Harry Potter: IronWizard
by kb0
Summary: After the disaster at the end of 5th year, Hermione sees a comic book and decides she can do better than others to keep Harry safe by making him a suit of armor.
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** Harry Potter: IronWizard  
 **Rating:** PG-13, Adventure  
 **Pairing:** H/Hr  
 **Summary:** After the disaster at the end of 5th year, Hermione sees a comic book and decides she can do better than others to keep Harry safe by making him a suit of armor.  
 **Disclaimer:** I don't own Harry Potter; that's would be someone commonly known as JKR and I'm not her. IronMan (who's barely mentioned) is owned by Marvel Comics. No money is being made from this story.  
 **A/N:** After 6 years on my hard drive, here's a story for Hermione fans. Yes, this story is going where you think it is. :) Of all the super-heroes _I'm aware of_ , IronMan seems like the most attainable, if you can come up with a good power source. No having to come from another planet, or have an accident that would kill most people … no, just a really smart guy with the "stones" to go out and help stop the bad guys. I have to use 2 characters to accomplish what Marvel does with 1 person, but hey, you work with what you got. ;) The first draft is complete and weighs in at about 68K-words over 10 medium'ish chapters. I hope you enjoy it - Kevin.)

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 **IronWizard**

 **Chapter 1**

Hermione Granger stared at her best friend in horror as he told her and their other friend, Ron Weasley, about the prophecy that applied to him - Harry Potter. She just knew something big was up when he pulled them into an empty cabin on the train home and away from their other friends, but not this. If that wasn't bad enough, this was on top of his godfather recently dying.

"Oh, Harry, I'm so sorry!" she told him as she threw her arms around his neck and gave him a hug. "Are you all right?" she asked as she quickly pulled back to check him over, not quite trusting him to give a detailed answer.

Harry looked down as if searching for an answer.

"Yeah, you all right there, mate?" Ron asked him.

Finally, Harry nodded and looked at them both. "I'm fine, or I think I will be soon. I, uh, I really miss Sirius though."

Hermione, who had kept one hand on his shoulder, stepped forward again and gave him another quick hug. "If there's anything we can do, you know you only have to ask."

"Yeah, we're there for you, mate," Ron parroted.

"Thanks," Harry told them sincerely. "Err, you better get back to your patrol. I wanted you to know before we split up for the summer."

Ron softly slapped him on the shoulder in a show of friendship, which made Harry smile, before he opened the door to leave. "We need to finish our rounds, Hermione."

She dug in her robes for a piece of parchment and something to write with. "Go on Ron, I'll catch up as soon as I get a phone number from Harry."

As the red-headed boy left, Harry asked, "Why?"

She gave him an exasperated look at his denseness, which helped to hide her real feelings at the moment. "Because, while Professor Dumbledore hasn't asked us not to write to you this summer, if he does, I want a way to keep in contact with you anyway." She wouldn't let this summer be like last summer.

Harry gave her a smile that warmed her heart and then told her the number, which she scrawled hastily. "If you do call, you should do it during the day. Uncle Vernon won't be home then."

"All right. You still have my number, don't you?" she asked, hoping he did for reasons she wasn't sure she wanted to think about at the moment.

"Yeah, I do," he replied casually. "It's on the inside back cover of my Transfiguration notes from first year."

"And do you know where those are?" she asked, thinking he probably didn't.

"Sure. Bottom right side of my trunk. I _did_ look through them before my OWLS. You know, all those tests we took recently?" he said teasingly and sounding more like his normal self, rather than the stressed young man he was during the telling of the prophecy.

She blushed slightly but enjoyed his teasing, seeing that as a sign that maybe this situation wasn't as bad as she first feared.

The door opened back up and Ron stuck his head in. "Are you coming or not? You said it was important we did this."

"I'm coming," she said as she gave Harry one last look. She knew that there would be no discussing this in front of the others and she had so many questions for him, so many concerns.

Harry gave her a friendly nod and then pushed her gently out the door. He followed them for a short way until he was back at their normal cabin and joined Neville and Luna to wait for her and Ron when they finished with their patrol.

After the patrol and when she and Ron rejoined their friends, she found Harry acting much like his normal self, with only a few mannerisms off. She suspected that she was probably the only one who would notice the difference.

At King's Cross station, she witnessed some people from the Order of the Phoenix giving Harry's relatives a warning. She didn't need divination skills to know that wasn't going to go over well. Harry had given her enough clues about them, and she could see that his uncle, while fearful of Professor Moody, wasn't happy at all.

Suddenly she saw her mother come out of the crowd and hurried over to her, giving her a tight hug. When her mother let go, she looked over at Harry again just in time to see him look her way and give a little wave before he left after his relatives.

"Which one is that one again?" she heard her mother ask.

"That's Harry," she replied.

The one she'd heard so much about in letters, Emma Granger thought with a smile. The young man was turning out nicely, at least as far as outward appearances - although his clothes didn't leave the best of impressions.

When her daughter stood very still and continued to stare after the young man, she started to wonder yet again about how Hermione really felt about Harry; letters home had left a few good clues. "Come on, dear, your father will want to see you when he gets home in a few hours."

Hermione became mobile and she put her trunk on a cart to follow her mother; however, Emma could tell that her daughter was not really _there_.

The two Grangers loaded the trunk into the boot of their car and pushed the cart into a rack. In the car, Emma put the keys into the ignition but didn't start the car. She looked at her daughter who was looking at her hands in her lap and slowly shaking her head.

"Hermione dear? What's wrong" she asked caringly and put a hand on the girl's shoulder.

That was all it took for Hermione to break out in sobs and turn to her, arms outstretched. Emma pulled the girl to herself as best as she could given they were in the front seat of a car. Hermione scooted over in the seat to get as close as possible. She patted the girl's back and tried to comfort her, despite not having any idea what was going on.

"What's wrong, dear?" she asked again.

Through sniffles, Hermione finally said, "It's so unfair! Harry's godfather was just killed. We all almost got killed at the Ministry over some stupid prophecy orb. And now Harry just found out he has to kill a Dark Lord and he's not ready. He won't be ready for years, but he hasn't got years. And I don't know how to make it better for him!"

The last part sounded the most distressing to her daughter, or so it seemed to the mother's ears, although she was going to find out what Hermione had meant by "almost got killed". "Why do _**you**_ have to make it all better," she asked, wanting to pull more information after the revelations she'd just heard.

"Because he depends on me to keep him alive. I need…"

Emma wondered what her daughter was thinking but couldn't finish in that last statement. Being a mother and having read all of Hermione's letters at least twice, she could guess and thought she'd probably be correct.

"You need him because you really care for him, don't you?"

Hermione nodded on her shoulder.

"You love him, don't you?"

Hermione started to nod again, then quickly pulled back and looked at her mother as if she couldn't believe she'd been asked that. "W-What?" she sputtered.

Emma ran a caring hand over her daughter's head. "This goes deeper than like, doesn't it?"

"He's my best friend," Hermione said, as if trying to convince them both.

"But you'd like more with him, wouldn't you?" Emma pressed the matter.

"I … I…" Hermione stared at her hands as she wrung them.

"Be honest, Hermione, you deserve that."

After a long moment, Hermione looked up slowly. "I guess I do love him in many ways."

Emma gave her a knowing smile and hugged her again. "I'm glad you've finally admitted it."

"What? You already knew? How?" Hermione was aghast.

Chuckling, Emma told her, "The clues were in your letters, even from your first year when Harry was your first real friend. Even after I started hearing about Ron, you always wrote about Harry more and in more detail. Your word choice gave you away too," the mother said with a smirk.

Hermione blushed as she moved back over to her seat. "I … I never thought it'd happen to me."

"There was no reason for you not to fall in love one day," said Emma wisely as only a mother could. "Shall we go home now?" She started the car, but didn't drive away as Hermione looked lost in thought. "Hermione?"

The girl was looking down and forlorn again, as she had been before the revelation.

At her daughter's sad look, she decided a slight detour might be helpful. "I know, let's go to that book store that's near that place of yours. Maybe we can find something to cheer you up there."

A slight smile finally came over Hermione's face. "That's a lovely idea, thanks Mum."

As they drove out of the car park, Emma asked, "So, what's the problem now?"

Hermione sighed deeply. "Harry's in a lot of trouble because, well, because he was just given a lot of responsibility and I don't know if he can handle it. I mean, I know he could if he had enough time because Harry is very good at handling trouble, but I don't know if he's going to be given enough time, because…" She suddenly stopped and looked at her mother. "I'm rambling, aren't I?"

Emma chuckled. "A little, but I think I understand what you're trying to say. Give it some time, dear, it'll probably work itself out. In the meantime, be a friend to him and support him as you've always done." She watched her daughter nod but silently sit there, thinking it through. There was no doubt in Emma's mind that the girl was trying to solve it all for the boy, and knowing her daughter, Emma let Hermione think as they drove the short distance to the bookstore.

Inside the bookstore, they split and went their separate ways after Emma told her daughter, "Go find something fun." Emma had a fondness for romance novels and headed that way. She noticed that Hermione sort of roamed around.

A few minutes later, Hermione found herself in front of the comic book rack. It didn't take her long to notice that all the superheroes had great figures, even the females, and they all had powers you generally couldn't ever have unless you came from another planet or had something happen that was stranger than magic - real works of fiction she thought. She started to move on when one in particular caught her eye, a man in a red - and what must be metal - suit.

Picking that one up, she flipped through it. It wasn't hard to figure out what he could do in the suit, flying and blasting people were there most obvious. Giving it a moment's thought, she realized she could do all of that to some degree, although she couldn't be hit like he was by the bad guy and live through it; the suit gave him protection for that. Then another thought hit her and raced through her mind causing her to consider it so intently she didn't notice the boy who walked up beside her.

"An oldie but a goodie, you know. You like that one?"

The voice jerked her out of her thoughts. "It's interesting," she said neutrally. When she noticed he was still looking at her, she asked, "Do you know much about him? I mean, are there old issues that show him making his suit?"

The boy chuckled. "Yeah, but we can't afford them," causing Hermione's enthusiasm to deflate. "But if you just want to, you know, see what happened, look to see if they have the compendium."

"You mean a book of reprints all put together?" she asked, excitement starting to come back.

"Err, yeah. It's probably over here." The boy walked over to the next section and started looking. A moment later he pulled an over-sized book off the shelf and handed it to her. "You're in luck."

She snatched it from him and flipped it open. Sure enough, it showed an introduction of the main character. "Thank you so much!"

He smiled back at her. "Sure. Say, you want to talk about it over a pizza?"

Hermione blushed slightly, realizing what was happening as her confidence strengthened. "I'd love to, but I don't think my boyfriend would like that." As his expression fell, she stepped forward and gave him a swift kiss on the cheek. "But I really appreciate the help." Since he was smiling, she felt relieved that she hadn't hurt his feelings. "Bye."

Turning, she headed to another part of the store. There was one more book she thought she wanted now; one she had been considering for some time and knew the time to buy it was now. She needed to be fully prepared.

A short time later, Hermione met her mother near the cash register.

"I thought you'd only get one." A raised eyebrow asked for an explanation.

"Well, I was planning for only one," Hermione said hesitantly before hurrying on, "but I need both of these for my project." She hoped her mother let her, projects were always a good reason to get books in her family.

Her mother looked at the two books. "A comic book? I didn't expect that." She raised another eyebrow.

Hermione looked shyly at the book for a moment. "It's research material to help Harry. I'll be taking ideas from it."

Without saying a word, Emma moved the big book aside to see a small book about working with abused children. "What is this for?" she demanded, not unkindly, but demanded nevertheless. She had a guess but hoped it wasn't true.

Her daughter hesitated for several long seconds before softly saying, "To help me help Harry."

Her worst fear confirmed, Emma put a hand on Hermione's shoulder. "You believe he's been abused?" A nod. "Do we need to get someone over to help him, like tonight?" A shake of the head. After a moment, she asked, "Are you sure about this?"

"Mostly," Hermione admitted. "He's really great at school, but he does have about half of the signs the book mentions in the first chapter. One of the biggest signs is that he actively won't talk about his childhood; I've had to piece things together. He has mentioned it getting a little better, but I know it's affected him."

"Then I believe we better go over this together and I want to talk to Harry."

"Mum, he's very private; I don't think he'll talk about it with you. I'm not sure he'll even really talk about it with me." Hermione shook her head. "He's very stubborn about it."

"We'll see then. Let's ring up so we can go." Emma was concerned about the boy, and ultimately Hermione as well because abuse was so easy to be passed on, but she'd have to tread carefully there she could tell.

Outside, Emma said, "Let's go home now. Your father will want to see you as soon as he arrives."

"I look forward to seeing him too," Hermione replied cheerfully as they walked to the car.

As they got in, Hermione suddenly realized there was one more thing. "Wait! We can't go home yet," Hermione said emphatically. "I must talk to Professor McGonagall as soon as possible. I need to go to Diagon Alley while we're here."

"But…"

"Please Mum! I need to hurry. She should still be at the school and I can contact her from the Floo there. Please, I need to do something else to help Harry!" Hermione pleaded.

Emma considered it for a moment. "Very well, but it can't take more than half an hour. I'll wait here at the car with my book."

"Thanks, Mum!" Hermione squeezed her mother's hand before racing out of the car, her packages left behind.

In the Leaky Cauldron, she arranged with Tom to borrow the Floo for a call. "Hogwarts, Professor McGonagall's office." A moment later, her head was in that location.

"Miss Granger, is there an emergency?" her head of house asked.

"Sort of. Can I please come through and talk to you? I don't think it'll take long," Hermione all but begged.

"Very well. Count to ten before you try to come through so I can open it for travel."

Hermione counted slowly before saying the destination and stepping through. "Thank you for seeing me, Professor."

"I'm always willing to help, where I can. Now, what is the cause of your emergency?" McGonagall gave her look that said it better be good.

"Professor, I just found out this afternoon that Harry has to do something very important. Being part of the Order, I'm sure you understand, don't you?" She was surprised that the woman continued to just look at her for a long moment.

"Miss Granger, I'm afraid I don't know, at least not specifically. However, it's not hard to guess about that to which you are referring. This is connected to your group's adventure a week ago, isn't it?"

Hermione nodded. "There's a prophecy about Harry and V-Voldemort. Harry will get killed without help and the Headmaster isn't giving him any. I think I know how to help keep Harry alive and even win, but I need a few things."

McGonagall studied her for a moment. "Why are you coming to me? Why not the Headmaster?"

"Because he hasn't been helping and I don't know why nor do I expect him to start now." The girl looked down for a moment. "I'm sorry to think so badly of him, but he's completely ignored Harry this last year and he's made no indication of changing. Plus, you have what I need - or you did."

"I won't make any promises," McGonagall told her, "but what do you think I have that you need?"

Encouraged, Hermione considered her plan briefly again. "I think the hardest thing to get will be a Time Turner, like you lent me in third year. If I don't have one, I think it could take me six months to get this done, assuming we all have that long to live. If I have one, I think I can finish this summer."

"I see," McGonagall said slowly. "As that was first, what else do you need?"

"I also need exemptions from the Statue of Underage Magic for Harry and myself until Sep 1st, that needs to also include being able to Apparate," Hermione went on quickly.

McGonagall looked shocked. "Please tell me you don't plan to try to Apparate on your own without instruction."

"Oh no, Professor," she hastily agreed. "That takes me to the last items. We'd need you to help us for at least two or maybe three lessons to learn, and I need the name of a blacksmith that knows about our world. I guess he would be a squib as I wouldn't expect most wizards would want to do that sort of work."

"I'm glad you wouldn't try that on your own." McGonagall considered the idea. "I could come to your house a few times next week and I do know of a man who is a blacksmith. He didn't attend Hogwarts, but his family has helped us with the armor and other metal workings in the past." The woman looked at the young lady intently. "What are you trying to do, Miss Granger? How does all of that fit together?"

Hermione hesitated. "I'd prefer not say too much, but I will say it will allow me to help Harry protect himself and save us all … like he has to. I'd also prefer if you didn't speak to the Headmaster about this."

McGonagall pursed her lips tightly. "I don't know if all of that is even possible, but I will consider it. I'm also not certain it's a good idea to keep this from the Headmaster."

"You mean the Headmaster who didn't tell Harry what he needed to know so Sirius didn't die? Or didn't tell Harry that a prophecy existed so Harry could prepare himself and be ready whenever a Dark wizard struck as has happened nearly every year here? I'll ignore my almost being killed recently which he also could have prevented by telling Harry some information," Hermione said a little scathingly. "I still respect the Headmaster, Professor, but we've learned the hard way that he doesn't have all the answers even if I didn't want to admit it until now."

"And you do know the answers?" McGonagall sent back a little sharply.

"No, Professor, I don't think that I do either. However, I think it's my turn to try to solve the Dark wizard problem in Harry's life. I also believe I have a better record of helping Harry over the last five years than the Headmaster," she insisted.

McGonagall sighed. "That you probably do, Miss Granger. I can not truly contest that. Very well, let me consider this and get back to you tomorrow, probably in the evening so I can speak with your parents as well. I can check on your other requests, such as the Time Turner, which I had to return after your third year."

"Thank you, Professor." Hopeful, Hermione returned to the Leaky Cauldron and her mother.

"All set, my dear?" her mother asked.

"I hope. Professor McGonagall said she'd consider my requests and come talk to us tomorrow evening." Hermione sighed. "I just hope she says yes."

— — —

That evening after greeting her father and spending time with her parents until after dinner, Hermione went to her room for the rest of the night and stayed up late. She put more effort into studying the comic book and making notes about ideas and how to do them magically. All of her books on Ancient Runes were spread around her.

— — —

As their not so little girl left for her room after dinner, Emma looked at Dan with a pensive look.

"What is it dear? I can see you trying to figure something out," he said as he helped her clean the table.

"Perhaps just saying it is the answer," she said with resignation. "Did you catch how Hermione talked about Harry?"

"Very fondly." He looked at her pointedly. "Are they dating?"

"No," she answered with a shake of her head. "I don't think it will be long before it happens though. She was in denial about liking him until I made her realize it today. I think I'd like to invite him over." Now she looked pointedly at him. "Are you going to cause a scene?"

"Isn't it my prerogative as a father to be at least a little protective of my daughter?" he asked with a hint of teasing.

"As long as you do it pleasantly and don't scare him away. If you scare him, Hermione might scare you," she replied with a jauntily tone.

"I'll be good," he promised before a grin broke out and he added, "mostly."

~~~IronWizard~~~

The next evening, Hermione answered the door not long after dinner was completed. "Professor McGonagall, please come in."

The stern professor was in a long dark blue dress, causing Hermione to look at the woman a little differently because she wasn't in her normal robes.

"I'm sure you remember my parents from when you visited to ask me to come to Hogwarts?"

"Of course, Mr and Mrs Granger, it is good to see you again," the professor said formally.

"Professor," both parents said before indicating a seat for the woman to sit in.

"Miss Granger, I'm afraid I have good news and bad news. I can _not_ get you Time Turner as most of them were destroyed recently, as I believe you're aware?" McGonagall gave her an extra stern look.

Hermione nodded and sighed. "I was afraid of that."

"It's probably for the best anyway, for everyone's safety." McGonagall reached into the small purse she had with her and pulled out several parchments.

"However, I believe you'll be much happier about this." She handed all the documents to the young woman. "You'll find two waivers for underage magic of all kinds for all summer. You'll also find a name and an address. I've even sent an owl to Mr Burns so he will be expecting you to contact him soon.

"Lastly, next Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, I'll come here at nine in the morning to teach Apparation. Please inform Mr Potter to be ready at that time as I will stop by his house first to bring him here. I believe it will be easier on everyone for the lessons to be in your back garden. The lessons will last until noon and I'll take Mr Potter back afterwards."

"Professor?" Emma spoke up as Hermione nodded her understanding. "Would you mind if Harry stays here for the afternoon and dinner and then we take him home? We'd like to get to meet him and get to know him a little."

Hermione was wide-eyed with surprise.

"As long as you have him home by 9pm, I don't believe that will be a problem ... as long as he agrees to it, of course," the Professor answered.

"Of course," Emma said with a smile.

"Unless you have any other questions that can't wait until Monday, Miss Granger?"

"Just one," Hermione answered quickly. "Do you know if Professor Babbling will be available to answer a few questions if I owl her?"

"I believe she would answer them, but you should ask them within the next week or so as I know she'll be taking her summer holiday soon after." McGonagall bid them good evening and Apparated away from their living room.

Hermione looked at her parents with a calculating look. "Why do you want Harry to stay here for dinner?"

Emma smiled. "We'd like to spend a little time to get to know Harry since he's such a good friend of yours. We also thought you might like a little extra time with him before we go away for our summer holiday in August. There's no reason to be worried dear."

Hermione considered that for a moment. "That would be nice." She looked at her father. "Will you be good around Harry or do you plan to try to scare him?"

"With that look," her father gave her a mock frightened look, "I'll be good."

"Good," Hermione answered, treating the matter seriously. "I'll be taking the magical bus to Harry's tomorrow afternoon. I think it'd be better to tell him about all of this in person."

"You won't get into trouble with his family?" her father asked.

"No, I don't think so, at least as long as we don't bother them." Hermione stood and looked very determined. "If you'll excuse me, I need to go write a letter to Professor Babbling about some runes I need and I need to re-plan the summer now that I know I don't have access to a Time Turner. I just hope I can get everything done without one. What rotten luck…" she half-whined as she walked to her room.

Other than the bit about planning, her parents looked at each other and shrugged - neither fully understanding the complaint.

~~~IronWizard~~~

(A/N: There's the premise that follows the title. As you can see, I've opened Hermione's eyes a little.)


	2. Chapter 2

(A/N: Thank you for all the nice reviews. It seems that many like the premise.

BTW, Cassandra30 pointed out there are a few super-heroes that are only highly trained and so are potentially achievable, like Batman - to which I added Green Arrow & Hawkeye. However, I wouldn't put them in IronMan's league, despite the farce of a movie of the Bat against the Kryptonian - which I didn't see. Superman versus Batman should go about like Hulk versus Loki. :)

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 **Chapter 2**

It was a Sunday afternoon and Harry was spending it by trying to take a nap because he hadn't been sleeping well since he'd lost Sirius. However, he wasn't very successful because it was too warm and he was being plagued by thoughts of his failures in regards to his godfather.

He also considered his and his friends' performance at the Ministry last week, as well as the situation as a whole. There were two problems: the Death Eaters kept getting back up after being stunned and the fact that the Death Eaters basically operated as they wanted within the Ministry and nothing was done about them. To the last point, even though eleven had been captured, he had little hope they'd stay locked up for long.

Harry thought he knew how to solve both problems. The first problem he would take care of in his next fight, which he was sure would come, by using something stronger than Stunning spells, or at least he'd break their wands. The second problem had a logical answer, the Muggle world showed him that, but he wasn't sure if it could be done in the magical world or if he could do it; he knew he had no way to accomplish it now.

He also still had his usual problems with the Dursleys. He hated how he was treated here and how Dumbledore made him return every summer. Again, he knew how to deal with it in theory - which would be with magic - but he had no idea how to actually accomplish that without trouble from the Ministry. Then there were his issues with Dumbledore, which he had no idea on other than to try to ignore the man as much as possible.

While it was easy to ignore the faint bang, like a neighbor's door slamming, the knock on the front door a few minutes later demanded attention. His aunt would probably answer the door, so he didn't move - he did listen for trouble carefully though. The screech from his aunt a minute later caused him to jump up, grab his wand, and run for the stairs.

After fumbling with his door because of his haste, he reached the top of the stairs and was about to start descending when he saw Hermione come around the corner and start to come up the stairs. What froze him in place was the sight of her with her wand in her hand along with a stormy look.

"Hermione?" he asked, his voice almost squeaking in surprise. "What are you doing here? Is something wrong? Did something happen to your parents?"

Because of his concern, her expression became much more pleasant. "No, Harry, everything's fine at my house. I came over to see you. Where's the most private place we could talk?"

"Err, my room?" Try as he might, he couldn't come up with any reasonable explanation for her visit.

She nodded and proceeded to climb the stairs. When Harry led her into his bedroom, she stopped and eyed the three locks that were only on the outside of his door and the cat flap at the bottom of his door. Her stormy look returned.

With embarrassment, he led her in. While he had intended to leave the door open, she quietly shut it behind her.

"You can have the chair," he said quietly as he sat on the bed, glad that he'd cleaned up his room that morning.

Hermione sat on the rickety chair in front of the battered old desk and then looked at him for a moment, trying to decide how best to proceed now that she was here. Her previous thoughts left her momentarily now that she was actually with him.

"What's wrong?" he asked again.

Shaking her head slightly, she laid her wand on the desk next to her along with a small bag she had been clutching. "I wanted to ask you a few things as well as tell you a few things that I think are very, uh, important. How are you though?"

"I'm fine," he replied like usual.

"Really? Completely fine and normal?" A little suspicion crept into her voice as she didn't think that would be completely true.

Harry dropped his head and stared at hands in his lap. "As well as can be expected, I suppose," he mumbled.

Hermione didn't hesitate and moved over to sit next to him and wrapped him in a loose hug. "I'm sorry about Sirius. I want to make it better for you but I'm afraid it'll take time for that wound to heal."

He nodded slowly and finally relaxed in her loose embrace, with his hands still in his lap.

"Harry," she said very softly. "Can we talk about something almost as important? Maybe two somethings?" She'd finally decided how to do this; her curiosity drove her to ask her personal question today if she could.

After a moment, Harry nodded but made no move to get away from her.

While happy with holding him, she really needed him to see her, so she slowly let go of his shoulders and grabbed his hands and pulled so he'd look at her. "Harry, I've had a lot of time over the last week while I was healing to think about how it is for you-"

"I'm so sorry you were hurt!" he blurted, looking guilty.

"Shush, it's not your fault. For all the reading I do, I should have known that silencing a person wasn't a good defense and that better wizards can cast spells silently." She waited until he nodded slightly.

"Now, as I was saying, I've been thinking how it is for you and with you telling me about the prophecy," she conveniently forgot about Ron being there as well, "I'm able to understand a lot better about why a lot of the things that happen to you have happened."

"Really?"

"Yes. Making of list of it all and writing down the causes and effects was very enlightening. What?" she asked as he started smiling at her, pleased that he was coming out of his funk even if she could tell he was about to make fun of her.

"Is it possible for you to do anything without making a list?" he asked with a hint of teasing.

She bit back her first retort as she decided that he needed a gentle hand at the moment. "You would be much worse off if I didn't."

Graciously he nodded and said, "Too true, unfortunately. So what conclusions did you come up with?"

Hermione really didn't want to speak badly of someone who wasn't here to defend himself, especially the Headmaster, but she was determined to help her best friend.

"It started while I was lying in the hospital after we went to the Ministry. That started me thinking about how we found ourselves in that situation." When he started to protest, obviously about to take the blame, she told him, "Shush, let me finish.

"After what happened at Christmas with Mr Weasley, you had every right to think Sirius might have been in danger. Professor Snape obviously didn't try to help as much as he could have, none of the other teachers there could have helped, Professor McGonagall wasn't there at all; but the root problem, the biggest reason why that disaster happened can be laid at the feet of the Headmaster."

Harry looked at her in shock at saying that, despite how much he agreed with her.

Hermione smiled a little, understanding his expression. "I know, it's not like me to say something like that, but almost getting killed did make me stop to reevaluate a few things. Professor Dumbledore has a lot to answer for, but given what he's been like in the past, I don't expect him to explain everything you need to know. He hasn't done it before and I don't think he will now. He told you about the prophecy because he had to. If we hadn't gone to the Ministry, I don't think he would have told you now. I hate to think that, but I believe it's true." She hung her head at condemning the man she'd looked up to ever since learning about him.

"That was hard for you to admit, wasn't it?" he asked gently.

She could only nod.

"I think you're right though. I came to most of those same conclusions after I came here. I just don't know what I can do about it though," he told her. "Well, I know what should be done, but I don't know how to make them happen."

She had to smile at a lead in like that. "I, uh, I have a plan … if you trust me," she said a little shyly, still amazed at herself for telling McGonagall that she thought she could do better than Dumbledore could. It was a 'heat of the moment' sort of thing, or that's the only explanation she could come up with.

"Why wouldn't I trust you?" he asked her very seriously.

A sigh escaped her, she couldn't help it. "Because if you follow my plan, you're going to have to do some things you normally wouldn't do and that I'd prefer you not to do. But as for solving the problem, I think it would work … once and for all … maybe by the end of the year with a little luck, or maybe sooner with a lot of luck, which you've always seemed to have when it counted."

He sucked his breath in and held it as his eyes went wide. After a long moment, he slowly let his breath out and every so quietly breathed, "Seriously? That soon?"

"Yes," she whispered back just as quietly.

They stood there and looked at each other for another long moment. "Why?" he asked, his soft voice sounding loud after the quiet, not even sounds entered from the open window.

Hermione looked down at his hands, just now realizing that she'd never let go and that he hadn't tried to pull back either. That made her smile and took her to her second goal. "Because I care for you and want you to live and I don't think anyone else is really going to help you like I can."

"How?" he asked simply, sounding like he had absolute faith in her and wanted to follow her.

"Before I answer that, I want you to answer one question for me. Your answer won't change my help, I'll help you to the best of my ability no matter what, but I need to know one thing." At his nod, she asked, "How do you really feel about…" she squeezed his hands, "me?"

His eyes dropped to their hands and his face turned slightly pink. She didn't let go of him and noticed he still didn't try to pull away.

"I, uh," he started then stopped and she waited for him patiently and hoping mightily. "Hermione, you know you're my best friend, right? You can't tell him, but if I had to pick only one of you for a friend, I'd choose you over Ron."

"That's nice," she smiled. "Anything else?"

Harry looked at her boldly and his expression turned a little mischievous. "I've known you're a girl since I first met you. Kind of hard to miss, really."

She couldn't help but smile more at his reference to Ron's blunder in fourth year. "And?"

He looked back down and sighed. "Look Hermione, I don't know what to do about girls and I think the Yule Ball in fourth year proved that. I do know that I'm not going to do anything that risks our friendship."

"I see," she said slowly, afraid this was the situation. 'Damn the Dursleys and damn Dumbledore,' she thought. "What if taking that risk is the only way to something better?" When his head jerked up and he stared at her, she nodded. "You're my best friend too, Harry, but I think we could do better and I'm willing to take the risk to find out if you are."

"You mean…" he half-asked hesitantly.

Hermione nodded and let one of his hands go to caress the side of his head. "You and me, if you want." She was afraid she'd done something wrong when he continued to look at her for a long moment, but then ever so slowly, he leaned forward and closed his eyes as he tilted his head.

She mimicked him and they shared their first kiss. There was no flash of light, no fireworks or stars, but it did show they cared for each other. When they broke apart, she let them breath a few times before she moved her hand to the back of his head and pulled him to her, kissing him harder. His hands moved to her waist.

When they separated this time, she sat up straight and looked at him to find that he was grinning as much as she was.

"Seems like a good risk to take now," he said, his joy still obvious.

"I'm glad you see it my way," she teased him lightly and paused for as long as she could. "I was going to wait to discuss that, but maybe it's better this way," she said finally.

Harry's expression sobered quickly. "I doubt anything would be as pleasant as that, but running away isn't really an option. Someone has to protect those who can't."

"I knew you'd say something like that," she told him.

"That's part of your motivation, isn't it?" he asked as he tilted his head as if trying to figure her out.

"Partly," she acknowledged, "but I'd help you no matter what."

He smiled and nodded slowly as he accepted it. "So what's your plan?"

There was no helping it, she'd have to go forward. He might reject her idea, but she felt like she had to at least tell him. "I started thinking about how the Ministry of Magic generally tries to deny everything or else do as little as possible, unlike the other Ministry."

Harry nodded. "Yeah, I've been thinking about that too. The Prime Minister would have soldiers tracking down the terrorists and either arresting or killing them, depending on how much fight they put up … but our Ministry doesn't have soldiers."

Hermione was very surprised he'd thought of it in the same terms she had approached it from. Then again, they were both Muggle-raised "They do have Hit Wizards in addition to Aurors, but even the Hit Wizards don't really go after the Death Eaters, the Hit Wizards are more like a security guards in a store. They're supposed to be good, but they don't go chasing bad wizards and witches."

"Right," he said, "when Britain has a war, they don't send the policemen or the security guards, they send soldiers and that's what we need."

She nodded, "And that's the plan, to give you what you need to be a soldier and survive. As much as I don't want to see you have to do that, somebody does and I don't think I could trust my idea to anyone other than you. I'd be afraid to give this power to the Ministry. I'm certain they would abuse it."

"Thank you for your trust, but how would you do that? I mean, not only would I have to take care of Voldemort, but all of his followers too. I'm good for a student, but I know that even I can't stand up to all of that."

"I think here is a way," she told him as she turned to her little bag. Before he could stop her, she grabbed her wand and canceled the shrinking spell before she cast privacy spells at the door and window.

"Hermione! You'll get me expelled!" he shouted as he looked around wildly, as if expecting Ministry officials to literally pop out of the wall.

However, she only smiled and dug into her bag. "Relax, Harry. Did you really think I wouldn't have thought that through?" she told him teasingly.

"I really hope you're playing a joke on me, Hermione. I've already got one warning." He still hadn't calmed down completely.

"Here," she handed him the piece of parchment she'd pulled out while she dug for the two books she needed.

"What?" he asked as he took it and then started to read. "Seriously, you arranged for us to have waivers on underage magic?"

"Uh, huh," she told him, sounding very pleased with herself. "While she didn't say, I suspect Professor McGonagall is friends with Director Bones, since the Director signed it." Handing him an oversized book, she said, "Here's the basis of the idea and you should read it to get some ideas."

"A comic book?" he asked incredulously. "Are you serious?"

"Do I really need to answer that," she asked just a little testily, "considering what we're discussing?"

"Err, no, sorry," he told her contritely, "but why an Ironman comic book?"

"Because a suit like that would give you the edge you need to survive and even beat the Death Eaters. Also, because I think I can make it with a little help. Most of the other superheroes require you to come from another planet or have some impossible accident to gain special powers, but this is doable thanks to magic … or enough of it is doable to allow you to win."

"Hey! He can fly, that's really cool. How would you do that?" he asked as he flipped through the comic book.

"What do you think allows you to fly during Quidditch?" she asked as she searched through her notebook.

"My broom … right," he finally said. "You'll just put those spells on the suit."

"Controlling it will be a little tricky at first, but I think it's doable. You won't have the control that your broom gives you because I've never created a broom before, but I think I can give you the basics which should be good enough. I don't have to make a world-class broom," she told him as she showed him a page in her notebook, the list of all the work required.

"That's a lot of stuff," he said as he went over the list. "Banishing spells are like Ironman's repulsors. Why Summoning spells?"

"Because the hands will make it hard to hold things, also, they are a weapon too," she explained.

"Hmm, right, summon someone and hit them with your fist," he said with a nod.

"I'm going to see a blacksmith after I leave here. He'll help us with a suit of armor, like a knight. Then I'll add the Runes for the powers. There are a few I don't know," she said sheepishly. "Would Hedwig be willing to take a letter for me to Professor Babbling? I'm hoping she can answer a few questions for me."

"Sure," Harry answered quickly. "Just leave it with me and Hedwig will take it this evening. I'm sure she'll enjoy the flight. She's out at the moment, probably taking a kip in a shadowy place."

Hermione pulled a letter out and laid it on his desk before she closed her notebook and looked at him for a moment. "Are you sure you're alright with doing this? I really don't want you to have to do this, but I just can't think of any other way." She felt like she was glowing on the inside when he reached out and grabbed one of her hands in his.

"Honestly, I'd really prefer I didn't either, but someone's got to do something and I think we both know that neither the Ministry nor Dumbledore will really do the right thing. The Ministry will do as little as possible as long as it can stay in power, and Dumbledore probably has some complicated plan that might work but he won't share it with anyone." Harry sighed. "So while I'd rather not go out and hunt down Death Eaters and then Voldemort, no one else will. Your plan is really fairly simple and as long as we can build the suit it will only require a little luck."

Hermione snorted softly. "A little luck? Seriously?"

"Yeah. I know where to find Death Eaters: Knockturn Alley. I also know who some of them are, so I should try to find where they live if I can," he told her.

"You know their homes will be heavily warded against intruders," she pointed out.

"Yes, but maybe there's a weakness. I won't know if I don't look."

"I suppose that's true, but I don't expect you to have any success there and I'd prefer you didn't try. Searching Knockturn Alley is a good idea though. Stand up, Harry," she ordered him as she rummaged in her bag. "We have one last task. I need to take measurements for your suit." She pulled out a long thin box. "We'll sort of make a mold."

Slowly, Harry stood. "I don't understand."

Hermione pulled off a length of aluminum foil. "Hold your arm out." When he did, she covered half of it in foil. Using her wand, she transfigured it into tin so it would hold its shape. With another piece, she formed the other half and then transfigured it. Having been careful not to crimp the edges together, she pulled them apart.

"There," she told him as she put the two parts into her bag. "Now I need to do the same to the rest of you."

"Why not just use that for the armor?" he asked her. "You could transfigure it to steel and be done."

"Have you considered what happens when the wrong set of spells hits it causing it to turn back into foil before the next spell rips through the foil and kills you?" she asked with a mild glare. "I have thought about this for more than a few minutes."

"All right, all right," he said trying to calm her.

She stopped after removing the two tin molds from his other arm. "I'm sorry, Harry. Even if this is my plan, I still don't like it because it'll be too easy for you to get hurt. So please don't joke about it, at least not too much."

He put his hand on her shoulder. "I'll make you a deal. You don't get all stressed out and I won't joke about getting myself hurt, OK?"

"I'll do my best, but I tend to worry," she told him before kneeling down to work on his legs.

"I know, but try not to. I really appreciate this because you're the first person who's given me hope that I'll live through this and has really shown that they care about me."

Hermione froze, her hands pushing the foil around his knee, and looked at him. "Really?"

"Sadly," he told her. As her hands went up his leg, he reached down and took the foil. "If you don't mind, I'll do the top part."

She couldn't help the blush as she realized where her hands had been heading. "Sorry," she said contritely.

Harry chuckled. "I don't know what will happen between us, Hermione, but maybe one day we'll share something really special."

"I hope that works out," she agreed quietly as she worked on the other leg.

They finished the mold in silence, each lost in their own thoughts. Harry did let her touch his bum; he didn't think that was too much of a problem, especially when she hurried so quickly. Hermione was glad she was behind him; she was sure her face was very red.

Putting the last piece from his head into her bag, she made sure she had her notebook and Harry had the comic book.

"Be sure to read that to get ideas," she told him as she finished packing.

"I will," he promised. "If I don't finish it tonight, I will tomorrow."

She nodded. "Oh, I almost forgot. Professor McGonagall will be here at nine tomorrow morning to pick you up. She'll Side-Along Apparate you to my house."

"Why?" he asked.

Hermione couldn't help her grin. "To teach us to Apparate." At his gob-smacked looked, she told him, "I know, it'll be really useful."

"And cool," he agreed.

Hermione looked down for a moment. "Mum said she'd like you to stay for the afternoon and dinner. We'd bring you back here before nine in the evening. The Professor said she thought Monday, Wednesday, and Friday should be good enough. She also promised not to tell Dumbledore."

"That's really interesting," he commented.

"It is. Oh! One more thing." She nibbled on her lower lip for a minute, nervous about this part. "I'm sorry, Harry, but you'll probably have to pay the blacksmith."

He smiled and put his hand on her shoulder for a moment before dropping it and rubbing her arm lightly. "It's all right, I'm sure I have enough. I can't imagine a suit of armor will be all that expensive. You'll be doing the hard part."

"I'm not sure, but thank you for not getting upset with me for making assumptions about that," she told him and wrapped her arms around his neck. "We'll probably need to go see the blacksmith together on Tuesday or Wednesday. I'll work something out."

"You'll do fine, you always do."

"Thanks, Harry." She kissed him just because she could and, well, it was lovely. "You really surprised me today," she told him.

"What? That I can kiss?" he teased her.

She giggled for a moment before turning really serious. "No, that you're all right with my plan. I really think the suit will protect you, but well, you're going to have to do some really horrible things … things that I wished you didn't have to do."

"I understand," he said with a nod of acknowledgement. "I guess I didn't fight it because I had already thought that's what needed to be done too; I just didn't think it could be done."

"You'll survive, Harry, because I'll do everything I can to make sure of that." She hugged him tightly.

When he let her go, he went over to his closet and opened his trunk that was there. A moment of rummaging and he was back, handing her his vault key. "Here, buy what you need, just spend it wisely."

"Thank you, Harry. I'll be careful with it," she promised as she put it in her pocket.

She started to shrink her bag when she remembered one last thing. "I almost forgot." She pulled out a box and handed it to him. "It's not much, but if you need a snack, there are some in here. No candy though, sorry, Mum and Dad don't keep that in the house."

He laughed and kissed her lightly. "Thanks, I'm sure it'll be great. I just finished the little bit I brought home from school."

"We'll give you more when you come over." She shrunk her bag down and gave him a quick peck on the lips. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"I'll walk you out," he told her.

Fortunately, his aunt was in the kitchen and didn't come out; his uncle and cousin still weren't there.

"Bye," he told her with a smile and a bit of a longing look.

"Bye," she echoed and walked out, feeling very smug about the visit, having accomplished everything she'd wanted.

"Psst, what are you doing here?" a soft voice called out from nowhere, or so it seemed.

Hermione kept walking, heading back to the park to catch the Knight Bus. "I'm visiting a friend. What are you doing here, Tonks?" Her voice was almost as soft. She wondered why no one had tried to stop her coming in. Had the guard been gone, asleep, or just missed her? That was worthless guarding whatever the reason, making her suspect someone else had been on guard duty when she'd arrived.

"I'm on guard duty and you're not supposed to be here," Tonks protested, make short scuffling sounds as she tried to keep up with the teen while wearing an Invisibility Cloak.

"There's no law that says I can't be, and if you're a true friend of Harry's, you won't mention this to anyone," Hermione replied.

"Dumbledore said no one was to visit him and I have to report this."

"No you don't have to report this," Hermione told her. "In fact, you shouldn't even be here. Technically, you're trespassing and stalking since you aren't here on official Auror business. Also, in case you've forgotten, Professor Dumbledore has no authority over me when I'm not in school, so if I want to visit a friend, I will."

"But you're coming here puts Harry in danger."

Hermione stopped at the street corner as if checking for cars, while she was really making sure no one was nearby.

"Tonks, first, Harry's always in danger, so there's no real change.

"Second, either Professor Dumbledore's wards here work and so no guard is needed, or they don't work at all, in which case Harry should be at his godfather's house; there's really no middle ground - logically. What that really means is that you're only here to keep Harry at his house, which is imprisonment.

"Third, you're breaking the law with the before-mentioned trespassing, stalking, and imprisonment, which I don't think you should be doing as an Auror, or what would Director Bones say if I asked her about you or anyone else standing outside Harry's house for hours when Harry didn't ask you to do this.

"Fourth, I've had one visit, while a guard's magical presence is always there. That's makes Harry's house easier to find with a revealing spell.

"Fifth, the Ministry knows Harry's address, so any Death Eater in the Ministry can probably get into the files to find it, so his location isn't all that much of a secret.

"And sixth, but not least, just you there isn't going to help Harry if the Death Eaters show up in force. They'll overwhelm you in numbers and then go after Harry anyway; or if you manage to get a warning message off, they'll still have finished killing you and Harry before help can arrive, so a single guard is useless.

"So do my boyfriend and me a favor and leave him alone, keep my visit to yourself, and tell the Order to leave Harry alone too." Hermione checked both ways and found the street still empty.

"Your boyfriend?" Tonks practically hissed. "Really?"

"Most teens do date given time, or so my mum says," Hermione said a little sarcastically. "Are we done?"

"Yeah, and I'll think about what you said. By the way, congratulations."

"Thanks," Hermione said with a smile and crossed the street, now with no shuffling feet following her. She wondered if her little debate would help, but guessed that it ultimately wouldn't make any real difference. As long as Dumbledore didn't do anything illegal, he really couldn't keep them apart this summer and she didn't think he would stoop to illegal, just guilt and verbal manipulation.

At the park, Hermione held out her wand and the Knight Bus arrived a moment later.

"Oh, you again," Stan said to her.

"This address please," Hermione told him as she held out her note from Professor McGonagall.

"That'll be four Sickles."

She dug into her pocket and pulled out the silver coins. Handing them to him, she took a seat.

It was five minutes later and two other stops before the bus slammed to a halt and Stan looked at her. "Your stop on Devonshire Lane, Miss."

Hermione thanked him and exited to see a small white house with a building nearly twice the size in back - both were single story. The bus left and she walked up to the door and knocked.

A moment later, a middle-aged dark-skinned woman with short dark hair answered. "May I help you?"

"Yes," Hermione replied, deciding to give up trying to guess her ancestry after a couple of seconds. "I'm looking for Mr Darius Burns. Professor McGonagall from Hogwarts said he could do some work for me."

The woman studied her for a moment before a small child stepped out from the side of the door to peer at the visitor.

Hermione thought the child was very cute and smiled at him.

The woman looked down at him and sighed. "My husband is in the back. I'll take you to him." She scooped up the child of about two and placed him on her hip as she came out the door. "You are a witch or a squib?"

"I'm a witch if it matters," Hermione replied, wondering at the question, but the woman didn't elaborate.

As they came to the open door of the building in back, a ringing of hammer blows on metal suddenly sounded a few times before quitting. The woman called out in a foreign language and waited at the door.

Hermione waited with her, but she couldn't help but look in. It was a real blacksmith shop, with a number metal things standing, hanging, or laying around the building. There were even some mixed items like wooden wagon wheels with metal parts on them.

A muscular and swarthy looking man walked over from a short furnace. His clothes not hidden by his heavy looking leather apron were plain and sweat drenched. "Yes?"

His accent was very interesting. He'd obviously been raised in a British environment, but there was a strong foreign element to it. She wondered if their ancestors were from South Africa or maybe India originally. "My name is Hermione Granger and Professor McGonagall from Hogwarts gave me your name. I need some work done by a blacksmith and she said you could help me."

He looked at her for a moment. "I received a letter from Professor McGonagall about you this morning. It was a most unusual letter." He paused and looked her over some more, as if trying to figure her out. "What did you need?"

"I need a suit of armor, like a knight would wear. It needs to be fully functional as it'll be worn."

The man grinned and chuckled as he looked at his wife, who was silently laughing. The child was shyly looking at her. "And what would a little thing like you," he asked, "do with a suit of armor?"

"I would have one made that would fit a friend of mine," Hermione said, standing a little straighter.

"That would be hard to do," he said slowly. "Your friend is not here to measure and I have a full list of work. Bring him back in a month; I'll put you on the list for then."

"I really need this as soon as possible," she told him. "While I plan to bring my friend in a few days, I have a mold of him now." She set her little bag down on the ground and canceled the shrinking spell on it so it became the overly large shopping bag that it really was, and pulled out the first piece she could grab - it was a leg part.

"Here," she handed it to him, which he took with amusement. She pulled out the other half and held it next to the part in his hand to show a cast of an entire leg and a foot. "I have all the parts so you can see how big he is."

His amused look faded and he took both parts of the leg and held them together while looking it over. "That's rather ingenious. It would probably do for a first guess." He handed them back to her, but my schedule is still full with promised delivery dates."

Her mind was whirling, trying to figure out a way to make it all work.

"I can do magic. Is there a way I can speed up your work to allow them and my work to be done at the same time?" she asked, wishing for and frustrated that she didn't have the Time Turner.

"It would require extra time on your part. That also assumes you know the spells to bend metal," he told her with a grin that indicated he didn't think she would know that. "You can't transfigure."

Hermione frowned a little as transfiguring would have made the work easier; she'd hoped it wouldn't have mattered for decorative like it would have the armor. It was true she didn't know spells that would bend metal, but that didn't mean she couldn't find out. "If I can do the spells, how much and how long would it take?"

He looked at her for a moment. "Five hundred Galleons or five thousand pounds, you decide. As for when, by the end of the summer if all goes well."

Hermione raised an eyebrow at him. "You don't think very much of my spell work, do you? Doing the bending must be half of the work and that won't take long."

He chuckled at her. "You've never done this before, so how would you know?"

"I'll know by Tuesday, I'm certain of that. Also, I need it by the end of this month," she told him, trying to speed the schedule up even more as that would work out better for her and Harry.

Now he laughed out right.

"You don't have any extra armor parts lying around all of this to help speed it up?" she asked, waving a hand towards his workshop.

He stopped laughing and looked at her with a calculated look. "You don't need them all to match and be proper?"

"Functional is more important than looking good, but they do need to match enough that it's possible to wear and not look stupid. Style or the period the suit comes from doesn't matter," she informed him.

He scratched his head for a moment. "Then maybe we can make a deal. I do have a few extra parts from a suit I was commissioned to make then the buyer canceled that I'd like to use up. I also have a few spare parts from some suits meant for Hogwarts that you could use and I could replace later, or at Professor McGonagall said I could delay her work if it would help you. Let me see the mold for your friend's body."

Hermione dug in her bag and pull out the two largest flat pieces and handed them to the man so he could see the size of Harry's body. Deciding to just do it all, she pulled out the rest and started to assemble the entire mold, using sticking charms to put it together. The blacksmith held the assembly upright as she worked.

When it was done, the man looked it over. "He's a little shorter than the pieces I have, but that's better than being taller."

"Right," Hermione agree, "because you can cut off but adding more would be hard."

He snorted, "Nearly impossible if you want it to hold together well."

Hermione pulled her notebook out and flipped until she found the drawing she'd made. "I was thinking something like this."

"You've cut the breastplate into pieces instead of it being a single piece. That makes it less like a real suit of armor as well as more likely to let a weapon penetrate at a seam if he really wore it," he pointed out.

"But I made the lower piece to slide up under to protect against that and I plan to use magic to make the steel harder and stop attacks at the seams," she returned. "Besides, I'm not worried about weapons but spells."

Darius looked at her for a moment and then nodded. "I see what you mean by wanting it more functional. Men in normal suits have trouble bending and if they fall it's hard for them to get up without help, but that modification would help greatly as the body could bend a little. You'd really need several sections there to bend well, as well as sections in the back too."

He looked at her drawing and the mold for a long moment. "I'll make you a deal. You come help make the parts by heating things and bending the steel, for both your project and my other ones, and if we're done by the end of July, it'll be 600 Galleons. If you allow me to finish my other projects in three weeks or less, I'll only charge you 500 Galleons. I should charge you a thousand Galleons for the project with such a schedule, but you'll be working long hours to make up for it."

"Can my boyfriend come help too, so we can do more faster?" she queried, hoping they really could finish before the end of July.

"I guess this isn't going to be a surprise?"

"No," she answered. "He knows about it."

Darius shrugged. "It's your - and his - time and money."

Hermione smiled. "Deal. Let me do some transfiguration on the seams to hold it together permanently and you can keep the mold. We'll be back on Tuesday to start."

"Bring 300 Galleons with you and another copy of that drawing," he told her as she shrunk her bag.

"Thank you, Mr Burns; I'll see you Tuesday. Mrs Burns," she said with a nod and marched back to the road to call the Knight Bus and go home, very pleased with herself.

— — —

Hermione burst in the house and headed to the kitchen. "Mum!"

"How did it go, dear?" Emma Granger asked as she fixed dinner. She had to stop when her daughter threw her arms around her, forcing Emma to drop her spoon in the pan and return the gesture. "It went well, I take it?"

"It was almost perfect," Hermione gushed.

Emma laughed. "So you have a boyfriend now."

"I do." Hermione turned serious. "Dad's really not going to try to scare him away, is he? I'd be most upset if he did."

Emma brushed a few stray bushy hairs back as she looked at her daughter, also taking in the area behind her. "I don't think that your father would have any real reason to try to scare him. He might tease the boy a bit, but if Harry is as good as you've told me, I don't think that will be a problem."

"No, Harry will be fine with a little teasing, as long as it's not too much." Hermione looked down. "I confirmed a few things about him by going to his house. He's had it harder there than he's let on, but I don't think it's as bad as my imagination first thought."

"Imaginations rarely err on the good side," her mother told her comfortingly. "Your father and I still want to meet him."

"I think Harry will be fine with that and the less time spent in that house the better. He'll be here Monday morning and we can take him home after dinner just like you'd planned." She let her mother go. "I need to go research a few spells. Call me when dinner is ready." Hermione hurried out of the room, not giving the rest of it any glance.

When the girl was gone, Emma looked to the other doorway leading into the kitchen area. "You heard the warning." She picked up the dropped spoon, thankful it had a long handle and hadn't completely fallen in the pot, and resumed stirring.

"So a light teasing only; that takes a lot of fun out of it," Dan Granger said as he walked into the room.

"Dan," she said warningly.

"I know," he said a little defensively, "but it is part of a father's job to protect his daughter when she's younger. If she was twenty-one and living on her own, it'd be different than her current sixteen almost seventeen."

"You've read the letters," she reminded him. "Harry is special to her, don't forget that."

"Yes dear," he said with resignation, "but I do reserve the right the question him at least some, especially after what we've learned about his background. I don't want her getting into an abusive relationship. It's well known the abused can sometimes have difficulty not passing that on."

"It sounds to me that Harry is one of the ones who's escaped that vicious cycle," she told him as she pulled the pan off the fire.

"Let's hope so," Dan said fervently as he started grabbing plates to set the table.

* * *

(A/N: Hopefully that gives you some insight as to why Hermione sees the world differently.)


	3. Chapter 3

(A/N: For those who think Hermione shouldn't know enough to build this suit, don't forget that she's had 5 years of "light reading" to help out. :)

* * *

 **Chapter 3**

Harry came down for breakfast a few minutes later than he'd originally planned, but he still shouldn't have to rush he thought. As he sat down at the table he noticed that Dudley was still on a restricted diet, though not as bad as last summer. He also noticed that his uncle was scowling at him. "What?"

Vernon reached into a pocket and pulled out a folded sheet of paper and put it in front of Harry. "Your list of chores."

Harry ignored it and reached for the eggs. "I'll take care of keeping the bathroom clean, I'll do the dishes if you want me to, and I'll mow the grass every week because I like doing that; but I think that's enough since I'll rarely be here if I can help it. Besides, it would help Dudley to do a few chores for once, to learn how and for his weight."

"Boy!" his uncle shouted.

Dropping his fork, Harry whipped out his wand and pointed it the large man. "Unlike before, I now have official permission to use this outside of school."

All three of his relatives leaned away from him and looked upset.

"I'll do some chores in exchange for staying here and the food, but I refuse to be the slave you've forced me to be before," Harry told them. "I also won't be here much past July, at least if at all possible. So you really only have to put up with me for about a month if my plans work out. And if all goes really well, I won't be back next summer."

"But your Headmaster said…" his aunt started and then stopped as he looked intently at her.

"I've recently found that he says things he has no business saying." Harry put his wand away and picked up his fork to finish his breakfast.

He mostly looked at his aunt but glanced at his uncle, ignoring his cousin completely. "I know you each hate me. I feel the same way about you. But for the next month, I need to be here and I think that will be best accomplished by all of us politely ignoring each other. I really don't care if you never speak to me except to say that a meal is ready - if I'm here - or that you're finished in the kitchen and I can do the dishes. You won't have to remind me about the grass, I'll mow it every weekend, probably on Sunday; and I'll automatically clean the bathroom every morning. Do we have a deal?"

He saw Vernon look at his aunt and it wasn't a pleasant expression, but nothing was said for a long moment. "You'll keep the others of your kind away?" she asked.

"I can't control them, but I'll let them know to stay away or at least out of sight," Harry promised.

"Very well, it's a deal," she agreed. Vernon didn't look happy but he didn't say anything either. Dudley just looked like he'd rather be anywhere else.

Looking at the clock on the wall, he told them, "I have to leave in about twenty minutes. I'll wash anything you have ready in the next fifteen minutes, else it'll have to wait until I get home. I should be back by nine, which means I won't be here for lunch or dinner. That will probably be my schedule for most of the week." Shoving a last piece of bacon in his mouth, he grabbed his dishes and cutlery and went to the kitchen.

Using his wand and thankful he could, he used a cleaning spell on the pans and then tried a dish washing spell he'd seen Mrs Weasley do multiple times. To his relief, it worked such that they started washing themselves. While that was going on, he cleaned the counters with a few waves of his wand and muttered spells.

His aunt came in and dropped her plate and glass as she "eep'd" in surprise. Harry managed to grab the glass as it was nearer, but the plate shattered. Putting the glass in the soapy water side, he turned to see his uncle standing in the doorway and looking furious.

A wave of his wand and a muttered " _Reparo_ " caused the plate to be restored and fly into his hand, which he put in the sink too. "Of course I'm going to use magic to do this," he told them, "I don't have a lot of time. If you don't like it, don't watch."

His aunt's dish placed itself on the dry stack, being the last. "It's all done. Do you want me to drain the water?" he asked. At her shaky nod he reached in and pulled both stoppers to let the two sides drain before drying his hands and pulling his wand back out for safety.

"If you'll excuse, I need to head out so I can meet Professor McGonagall on the sidewalk, unless you want her to come to the front door." Both shook their heads and backed up to get out of his way.

He almost expected Vernon to try something, but Harry supposed the wand in his hand prevented that. Putting it away as he reached the front door, he left, glad to be out of that environment. He might have been a little heavy-handed with them, but he was determined not to let the past be repeated in regards to how they treated him this summer.

Not seeing his professor yet, he walked over and stood under the only tree in the front garden and waited.

It didn't take but a few minutes before he saw her walking down the street from the direction of Mrs Figg's house. She was in a long black dress, probably transfigured from her normal robes he assumed. He decided to meet her half way.

"Good morning, Professor," he greeted her as he neared her.

"Good morning, Potter. I'm surprised to see you out here."

"Yes, well, I promised them," he gestured behind him, "that I'd limit my 'friends' coming over." He did air quotes to emphasize those from his school world. "They don't want to see any of you."

She pursed her lips for a moment and then frowned. "Are you going to be all right staying here?" she asked with concern.

He gave a small smiled, pleased she was being open with him. "Yes, thanks to you." At her raised eyebrow, he added, "The exemptions you garnered for us guarantees it. Don't worry though, I won't use it on them unless they attack me and I don't think they will. The threat of it seems to have taken care of the problem."

Her look of concern abated. "Very well. Please let me know if I need to speak with them. Let us be off then. Please lead me to a place we can leave from without being noticed."

A few minutes later McGonagall Side-Along Apparated them to a back garden. Hermione came out the back door at a quick pace and drew him into a hug. He wished for more but fully understood why the kiss was skipped.

McGonagall raised an eyebrow at them as well as allowed a barely noticeable quirk of her mouth, but said nothing about it; instead, she chose to look around for a moment. "Perhaps we should go inside Miss Granger. We really should avoid prying eyes."

Harry could see only the upper floors of a few other houses, but he supposed she had a good point as someone could look out a window and not be seen.

In the living room, McGonagall looked at each of them rather sternly. "I am teaching you this only for your safety and this will not be mentioned to any of your friends. Am I absolutely clear on this?"

"Yes, Professor," they chorused solemnly.

"You should also know that while I will not tell Professor Dumbledore about your project, as you've requested, I have mentioned I'm teaching you this. He didn't believe it was necessary, but he didn't forbid it either."

Harry snorted and drew a sharp look from her. "I'm sorry, Professor, but knowing Apparation would have been very useful at the end of my fourth year when I was kidnapped to resurrect Voldemort. So knowing it early seems very … practical."

Her look softened and she nodded, grudgingly it seemed. "You have a point, although I really do hope that was a one-time problem."

McGonagall she pulled her wand out and conjured two large hoops on the floor. "The theory is quite easy and the three D's will help you remember, although putting them into practice may be harder than you first think. Still, I believe you each will be able to do this quickly enough."

Harry appreciated her confidence as he continued to listen to her instruction. When she finished lecturing and had each of them try it, he stood there and looked at his hoop on the floor and tried to send himself there … and failed. Looking over, he saw Hermione's look of concentration appeared to match his own and she was making as much progress as he was - none.

While it wasn't exactly the same, tried to remember how his trip over here felt. Also, now that he had a name for it, he tried very hard to remember how he had sent himself to the roof of his school when he was much younger.

A few minutes later, his vision shifted and he heard a large crack echoing through the room and Hermione jumped as if she'd been hexed.

"Harry, did you do that?"

"I, uh," he looked down and saw that he had moved the required meter and was now standing in the hoop. "I guess I did."

Hermione beamed at him. Looking up, he saw McGonagall with one of her rare amused quirk of a smile. "Very good, Mr Potter. Please step back, review how that felt, then try again."

It was hard, but Harry managed it twice more before McGonagall was ready to leave, while Hermione had managed to only blink in place, but it showed she was making progress.

McGonagall looked at each of them sternly. "Please do not attempt doing this again until our next lesson on Wednesday. I don't want you to Splinch yourself with no one to put you back in the right. Are there any other questions? Very well, I'll be off then. Mr Potter, I will pick you up at the same time on Wednesday." After a nod for good-bye, she Apparated away from there.

Hermione gave him a hug just because she could. "You did great, Harry. I'm impressed."

He gave her a little smile. "I got lucky because I'd done it before and knew how it felt. You did well yourself and I'm sure you'll have it down on Wednesday."

"Thanks. When did you do it before?"

"I was about nine and my cousin and his friends were chasing me and I did accidental magic to escape. I got in trouble for it, but I still remember doing it." He sighed. "I'm sure I wouldn't be as far along as if that hadn't happened."

"It doesn't matter," she told him, "we just have to learn this week. Come on, let's go into the kitchen and get lunch then we can look at the suit we're building. I've got a list of things it needs to do and you can help me make sure it will do everything you need."

"Stopping the Killing Curse would be my number one wish," he said fervently.

"Duh," she told him.

He was sure she'd rolled her eyes even if he couldn't see them, which made him smile. He liked this easier going Hermione and wondered if she'd still be this way once they returned to Hogwarts.

— — —

Minerva McGonagall returned to the castle and sought out her colleague. "Bathsheba", she called out when she found her in the lounge, thankfully alone.

The woman looked up and smiled. "Minerva, I thought you would be getting ready to go on holiday like the rest of us."

"Oh, I'll be leaving next week for a few weeks, but I have a question, if you don't mind." Minerva sat next to her friend. "I've heard Miss Granger wrote you recently about a project she's taken on. My I enquire what she asked you about?"

"Actually, she didn't say anything about a project per se, although there must be one knowing her," Bathsheba smiled and the two chuckled. "She wanted to know about the runes to create the ceiling in the Great Hall and basic runes and charms to make brooms fly. She said if she'd been here at school and had access to the library, she wouldn't have bothered me; she was really very sweet. So what do you think they're for as I wouldn't put those together?"

Minerva shook her head. "I have no idea. I'm aware of her trying to help Mr Potter, which would explain the ones about brooms."

"Yes, that boy can fly," Bathsheba chuckled.

"I guess we'll have to wait and see then," Minerva said as she thought of one other thing. "Could I ask you to keep this quiet? I'm not sure what they're doing but I think it important that Albus doesn't know until they're ready to show him. I think it's a surprise."

"Of course, I don't see any harm in that," Bathsheba promised.

Minerva wasn't bothered at all about misleading her friend about Dumbledore as it was for a good cause. She had faith in Hermione; if anyone could keep Mr Potter safe, that girl could - especially with her new motivation as his girlfriend. That thought gave her a smile as it reminded her of the boy's parents. Hermione was very much like Lily.

— — —

After lunch, Harry and Hermione took the Knight Bus to Diagon Alley and the book store. Hermione looked for a book on working with metal. "I don't see anything useful," she told him with a sigh.

"Perhaps the bookstore in Hogsmeade?" he suggested. "It's smaller, but maybe they would have it since they seem to have more used books," he shrugged.

"Good idea." A quick look around showed them to be alone so she leaned forward and gave him a chaste and quick kiss. "Let's go."

Using the Floo this time, they went to the Wizarding town. They walked hand-in-hand to the bookstore where Hermione found a used book that described what they needed to know. She also found another book on Ancient Runes that she said she had to have.

Harry smiled and kept his comments on that subject to himself as he paid for the books.

Returning home, Hermione fetched her notebook and pushed him onto the couch before she sat in Harry's lap, holding the notebook in front of them so they could talk about her notes.

Harry decided he didn't mind her being a little pushy in this way and enjoyed holding the girl.

After they finished looking at and adding to her notes, Harry asked, "How's your injury? You seem to be moving pretty well."

"I am doing well. I don't feel anything and have only a faint line that's fading quickly. I don't think you'll be able to tell it ever happened in a couple of days."

He almost asked to see it, but knew that would be going too far at this time. "I'm glad. What did your parents say?"

She looked down for a moment. "They were concerned of course, but I told them it was only a little accident and I'd be fine soon."

Quirking his head, he asked, "You lied to them?"

Fidgeting with her notebook, she replied, "I just left part of the story out."

"I see," he grinned at her, "just like with McGonagall and the troll?"

"Hush, you," she told him and blushed guiltily. "How are you feeling about Sirius?"

Now Harry looked down and looked at her hands in her lap and wondered about her thoughts on the matter. "Doing all right for the moment, I guess. Still not a pleasant topic, but I'm getting better. I know we didn't have much time together, but I miss him." He watched as one of her hands came up and caressed his face and he didn't have to wonder any more.

"I'm really sorry, Harry. I'm sure it'll get better and hurt less in time. I promise I'll help you where I can."

"Thanks, Hermione."

She dropped her hand back to her lap. "You know, our adventure a few weeks ago has caused me to look at several things differently."

"You mean like how you're now willing to make it possible for me to take out the Death Eaters?" he asked.

"Yeah," she said as she looked down again. "I really don't like it, but I know it has to be done. I also don't like what I've come to think about Professor Dumbledore … and what he's done, or not done in some cases."

"I know," he agreed. "I don't hate him, but I'm not sure I fully trust him anymore."

"Exactly." She looked at him. "Speaking of school, can you tell me why you don't do better? You've always been good with the practical work, but I've also seen you do well with the exams sometimes. Why don't you do that all the time?"

This time he looked behind her for a moment, not wanting to see her expression. "It's an old habit. I got into trouble when I did better than my cousin and he's not very smart."

"But he doesn't go to Hogwarts. You don't show them your marks, do you?" she argued. When he shook his head, she added, "Then they'll never know, so do your best and get the most out of school as you can. You're paying for it."

Harry snorted. "When you put it that way, I really should, shouldn't I?" She gave him a look that he easily interpreted as "Of course I'm right," which made him smile. "All right, I will."

"Excellent. Now, we only have a couple of hours before Mum and Dad will be home. My thought was since it looks like we'll finish the suit by the end of July now instead of much later, you can take care of things during August. We'll be gone during August, so I won't be here to distract you and you won't have to worry about protecting me.

"Do you have an idea on where you can stay?" asked Hermione. "I'm not sure the Dursley's would be the best place."

"I was thinking Sirius's place. It's hidden and I was his heir, so I should be able to close it for everyone but myself." Kreacher was there and Harry knew he could order him to obey, but didn't think he should mention that to her.

"All right, I think that will work." She smiled at him. "I need to work on the runes for the suit some more since we'll go see Mr Burns tomorrow. You should finish looking at the comic book and making notes for what you need to do."

"All right," he agreed, "after we do one thing first."

"What?"

He grabbed her head gently and pulled her down into a kiss, a long kiss. "Lovely," she murmured before initiating a long kiss herself.

— — —

"We're home," the woman called as she walked into the house, her husband a little behind her.

"In the kitchen," Hermione called out.

A moment later, she was making introductions. "Mum, Dad, I hope you remember Harry. Harry, my parents."

"You can call us Emma and Dan," Emma told him. "I think our one previous meeting was too short to really get to know one another, so I hope you don't mind us having you over."

"No, no problem at all," Harry answered, feeling a little uncomfortable despite the woman's efforts. They were Hermione's parents.

Dan stepped forward and held out his hand. "Harry, it's good to meet you."

"Dan, likewise."

"What have you done, dear?" Emma asked as she looked towards the stove. "Is that dinner?"

"Yes, Mum." Hermione glanced at her friend. "Harry thought it would be helpful and I agreed."

"Thank you, Harry," Emma told him with a smile.

Dinner brought simple conversation, where Dan and Emma asked about him and their school. Harry did his best to steer them away from their adventures, not sure what Hermione had told them.

"You said you talked about your summer plans today, what do you plan to do tomorrow?" Dan asked, looking very interested in the answer as they walked into the living room.

"We're going to visit the blacksmith I told you about," answered Hermione as she and Harry took a couch while her parent took the other couch in the room.

"What are you going to do at a blacksmith's shop?" her father asked.

"We're getting a suit of armor built for Harry," she replied.

"Is this some sort of anachronistic reenactment play or something for school?"

"No Dad." Hermione looked at Harry.

Harry could tell she wasn't sure what to say. "It's to keep me safe, or at least safer." He knew he couldn't leave it there. "There are some … old families, I guess you could say, that want to…" He looked at his girlfriend, who didn't look happy at the direction this conversation was now going but couldn't change it either.

"They want do things their way, even if that means they ignore the law and people get hurt. They also keep coming after Harry." She reached out and clutched at his hand and he held it tightly.

"The Ministry of Magic," Harry took over the conversation again, "is led by incompetent and corrupt people who turn a blind eye to this. There are a few good ones, but not nearly enough. So I'm going to help out for a month."

Dan looked at Emma, who looked alarmed. "While I can understand your desire, why do this? Why not work with the good ones, as you put it?"

"Because the corruption starts with the Minister of Magic, and he has more power in our world than the Prime Minister has in your world." Harry shook his head. "I shouldn't have to do this, but someone must."

"Why you?" Emma asked, sounding very concerned.

"Because it started with me when I was a baby. They came after my family and killed my parents. I got this scar," he pointed to his forehead. He wasn't going to tell them about Voldemort mostly dying and then coming back; that was too confusing. "There's been a break, but they're starting back up again. They also killed my godfather a few months ago."

No one said anything for a long moment. "I don't know if I believe in prophecies," Harry said quietly. "I have no idea where they come from, but some think magic provides them…"

"I don't think they're really foreknowledge," Hermione jumped in. "I think when people hear something like a prophecy that they do what's mention to make them self-fulfilling."

Harry shrugged. "Yeah, maybe, but I don't really know." He looked at Dan and then Emma. "There is a prophecy that says that only I can kill their leader, I'll be marked," he again pointed to his forehead, "and I'll have a special power. Their leader believes this prophecy and is coming after me so I have to be ready. I think that special power is this suit we're building and with it, I can end this madness and have a reasonably normal life afterward."

The parents looked at each other. "Is Hermione safe in all of this?" her father asked pointedly.

"She will be," Harry said. "I plan to go after them and finish it all while you three are on holiday."

"You're going to stop a coup in a little over three weeks?" Dan asked incredulously. "Or at least that's what it sounds like."

"I think so," Harry told him, looking him in the eyes. "The Wizarding World has no concept of an army, so what I'll be doing will be foreign to them. That will give me an edge."

"Only at the beginning," Dan replied with concern and leaned back in his chair and looked at his wife, who wore an expression of worry.

Harry looked at Hermione, who didn't look happy and he was sure he was about to make her unhappier. "I will do my very best to end this before September, but if I don't do that, then it might be for the best if Hermione transferred to a school in another country."

"Harry!" the girl exclaimed angrily.

"Hermione, I agree with them wanting to protect you. I plan to finish this, but plans also have to be made for the possibility that I fail," he told her pointedly.

She did not look happy to hear that. "Harry James Potter, I will not hear talk like that!"

"Hermione, honey," her mother looked at her, "he has a point. While I suspect you're thinking that his failure means something bad happens to him, it can also mean that he just fails to get their leader, and then you both should go to another school away from the war."

"I suppose you have a point," Hermione mostly agreed while looking very unhappily at Harry.

"Hey, I have no doubt about you being able to make a suit that will keep me safe," he told her gently. "My only doubt is if they will stay as dumb as they usually are until I've finished. They could wise up and go into hiding and take another break for a year after I've made a good start."

Finally, she nodded. "You have a point."

"Of course, I do," he told her with a grin and squeezed her hand. "You'll be safe while I do this and then when you return, we'll see where everything stands and make a decision. If we have to, we'll take a break by going to another school for a year or two before we return to finish it."

She nodded again while her expression changed to one that told him she had an idea that she wasn't going to be persuaded from. "If we have to take that break, then we'll use the time to build a second suit."

"Honey," her Dad started warningly.

"Dad, Mum, I will be with Harry. I'll concede that Harry will have to fight by himself this time, but only because we have time to build only one suit. If we have to leave and return later, then those power-hungry bigots will have to face the wrath of both of us."

Dan did not look pleased, but it was Emma that took over. "I understand your feelings, dear, although the 'how' is a little over my head." She looked at her husband. "While I'm not comfortable with Harry putting himself in danger, at least you will be safe with us. Then if something unexpected happens, we'll deal with it then." She looked at her daughter. "Please be honest, Hermione, the time before the trip will be safe?"

"Other than cuts or bruises, I don't see how the blacksmith shop would be unsafe," Hermione replied.

"I think that will have to do for now." Emma looked at her husband and he finally nodded, clearly unhappy but also without an argument to make.

"Harry, can I ask you a few questions about something different?" At his nod, Emma glanced at her husband before she looked back at Harry. "I know that things can be a little difficult being magical while growing up in the non-magical world. How are you doing at your aunt's house?"

Surprised at the new topic, he froze for a couple of seconds. "I, I'm fine," he said blandly. "I guess you could say we have an arrangement that works for us."

"What sort of arrangement, if I may ask?" Emma queried, looking very concerned.

He glanced at Hermione, who gave him a small smile of encouragement. "We've learned what works for us and what doesn't. We avoid the disagreements as much as we can … probably like you do."

Emma looked at Dan, who nodded at her and asked, "So, what are you looking forward to?"

Harry breathed a little easier. "Being past the bad wizards coming after me is the most obvious. After that," he shrugged, "I suppose finishing school and living on my own. I haven't decided what I want to do for a job yet, but I'm sure I'll have options. My family left me a little money, so I'm not too worried."

"That's good," Dan said agreeably. "What about a family? Are you looking forward to that?"

Harry saw Hermione look away from him and she looked a little embarrassed, which he supposed he could understand since it was her father asking. "Yes, some day, but I'm not ready for that any time soon. I do look forward to continuing the Potter family one day."

Dan chuckled lightly. "That sounds pretty normal."

Emma looked at her watch. "I believe we need to be leaving to take Harry home."

The conversation in the car was more pleasant, though a little strained as everyone avoided the topic of August. Harry did learn they were taking a trip to Greece.

When they arrived at Privet Drive, Hermione threw her arms around Harry's shoulders for a hug. "I'll see you tomorrow morning. Take the Knight Bus to my house at nine. Sweet dreams, Harry."

"Sweet dreams," he whispered back before he let go and left the car.

Walking into the house, his aunt and uncle gave him a scathing look but said nothing as he headed to his room.

The plans were becoming more real and he felt like he had to do something. Pulling out a piece of parchment, he wrote, "Last Will and Testament for Harry James Potter…" He'd leave it with her just before she left; or maybe he'd give it to her parents to hold.

~~~IronWizard~~~

The next morning, Harry took the Knight Bus to Hermione's, where she was waiting and boarded so it could take them to the blacksmith's. She led them straight to the shop in the back, where the sounds of metal hitting metal could be heard.

"Mr Burns," she called loudly.

The man turned and looked at them for a moment before nodding. Two more quick hits of the hammer, a close inspection of the flat bar he was holding with tongs, then it was dipped in water and produced a little steam before being laid on his anvil and he came over.

"Miss Granger," he returned as he wiped his hands on his leather apron. "I assume this is your friend?"

"Yes, this is Harry. Harry, this is Mr Burns, whom Professor McGonagall recommended."

They shook hands. As the man let his hand go, he looked up and then looked surprised. "Harry, as in Harry Potter?"

"Yes, Sir."

Burns looked at Hermione for a moment before he smiled, his white teeth being very obvious with his darker skin. "Now I understand." He laughed jauntily for a moment while Harry and Hermione looked at one another in confusion. "I read the _Daily Prophet_. While it is rubbish most of the time, I do think they get a few things right.

"Come, let us measure and mark. I must think about how to do this." Burns stopped in front of a pile of armor parts. "I put all the pieces I have here. Did you find spells for working with metal?"

"Yes. I've yet to try them, but I have a book," she told him confidently.

"Then we shall see if it all can be done." Burns picked up an arm and held it out to Harry. "Do you fit in there?"

Harry put his left arm in and it almost fit. "It doesn't quite fit at the top, I guess my bicep is longer, but the rest fits well." He moved the hand and flexed his fingers in the metal glove.

"Hmm, a little tricky to fix but it can be done if I must." Burned grabbed the lower half of a suit and handed it to Harry. "Sit over there and try to slide into it. Don't worry, it comes apart to make it easier to put on, but I have it all attached for the moment."

Harry almost dropped it. "That's heavier than I thought it would be." Swinging it around, he dropped it on the open dirt floor and then sat down as well and scooted into it. "Too long."

"Right, I guessed it would be, but it's the best of the extra pieces that I have. Come back over here." Burns grabbed a breastplate as Harry wiggled out of the leg pieces. He held the plate in front of Harry and snorted. "A little large also, but that's to your advantage." He dropped the plate and it made a distinctive thud.

Turning to his friend, Harry said, "I didn't realize how heavy this was going to be. I don't think I can wear it like this."

Burns laughed and said, "Yes, the knights of old had to be quite strong. The full armor will be about 27-30 kilos, or about 60-65 pounds. Jousting armor is half again heavier, but that's not what you're after. Still, I had wondered about this based on the size of the mold you showed me. What will you do?"

Each male looked at Hermione who was worrying her lower lip and she thought it through. "I think the rune equivalent of a Feather-weight charm to reduce the weight. I might be able to add strength runes to help too." She looked at Harry apologetically. "I'm sorry, I didn't think of this, but I guess I now understand why Ironman's suit had hydraulics."

"It's all right," Harry told her with one-armed hug.

Burns grabbed a helmet with a slot for sight and a slightly pointed beak for where the mouth was and put it over Harry's head. "Good, that fits."

Harry grabbed the point in the front and lifted so his face could be seen. "Is there supposed to be padding for this?"

"Yes, normally leather and cloth, which may add yet another few kilos overall," Burns pointed out. "Are you going to need a sword? That's yet more weight."

"I don't plan on it," Hermione answered, "but that's something we'll take care of this afternoon. Are you sure we have to add all the padding in?"

Burns worked on the arm they'd looked at earlier and separated it at the elbow, handing her the forearm and glove. "Put this on." When she did so, he wrapped his knuckles on the metal. "Feel safe there?"

"Yes," she answered hesitantly, expecting some sort of surprise by the way he was acting.

Grabbing her arm, he flung it at the wall they were standing next to, causing her to yelp loudly.

"What did you do that for?" she all but yelled at him, while Harry was concerned and his hand hovered near the end of his wand.

Burns turned and grabbed a small jar from the shelf. "Take it off and look at the armor; it's not damaged at all."

The two teens looked and it was as he said.

Unscrewing the top, he held the jar out to her. "Bruise paste, I get it from Diagon Alley."

She dipped two fingers of her other hand in and began to apply it to the back of the hand that had been in the armor. "Thank you, and I understand now."

He chuckled as he put the jar back on the shelf. "Don't get me wrong, armor can be dented and damaged, even cut open by a sharp enough sword, and I have no idea what spells could do to it, but armor was the height of protection in warfare during the Middle Ages for a reason. Because of that hardness, even the wearer needs protection from it, hence the padding."

"I'll see about some Cushioning Charms on the inside," she told him with much more understanding. "Do you have all the parts you need here?" she pointed at the stack.

"Most of it, as long as they don't all have to match," he answered. "As you could probably tell by size alone, the legs don't go with the arms and the body breastplate and helmet are from yet other suits." He shrugged. "That's the only way I know to meet your deadline, and even then, it will be hard and long work."

Harry saw her look at him and he nodded.

"We'll do it," she told him, happy it was coming together so quickly, much quicker than she'd originally envisioned.

"Very good," Burns told them. "I have an order I need to finish today and a little help would be good, then we can start on your work tomorrow."

"Right, we can help you this morning," Hermione told him. "We need to go somewhere this afternoon and we won't be here until tomorrow afternoon, but we can work late then if we need to."

"Let's get started," Burns told them. "I'll let you help with the fire as that should be easy enough. Then I'll show you how I need to shape the metal and see if you can do it."

"Mr Burns, how did you get started in this?" Harry asked.

"Family trade through my wife's side, learned it from her father. My father was a Wizard, my mother wasn't. They were both killed in the last war." Burns gave them a look that said that was all he would be saying on the subject.

Harry nodded and then went to the fire, ready for his lesson here.

— — —

A dirty and sweaty pair of teens returned to her home to clean up and get a late lunch before heading out. Again they took the bus, making them look forward to being able to Apparate.

Hermione was pleased to see no other customers in Ollivander's shop. Being very forward, she even turned the sign on his door around so it showed he was closed.

The old man behind the counter raised an eyebrow at them but said nothing about her action. "Miss Granger and Mr Potter, what a surprise. I hope you're not having any trouble with your wands."

"No, Mr Ollivander," she told him as they walked to the counter. "However, I have a few questions that are rather … sensitive."

"I'll help if I can."

"Harry needs to be able to do spells without his wand," she started.

"Wandless magic is possible, just very, very hard for most people," he answered.

"Yes, I assumed that to be the case, but I want to know if there are other foci that would make this possible, especially something that wouldn't burn, like crystals," she prompted him. "I have a book that hinted it might be possible to use crystals as foci."

"Hmm, there are some precious stones that might work, but before I continue, why?" The old man looked at them barely blinking and making Harry wonder if Ollivander and Luna were related.

"Because Harry has to fight Voldemort and he needs every advantage I can give him," she answered. "I need some foci that we can put in the palm of a glove and work, as least for a few simple spells like Summoning and Banishing, and if I can arrange it a Cutting Charm as well."

The old man gave her a look of surprise before looking intently at her and then at him. Harry thought he felt something like a brush of magic, but it was so gentle and quick he thought he was imaging it. If that was Legilimency (and he wasn't sure it was), then Snape could learn a lot from this man.

"Wait here," Ollivander said before he left for his back room.

"I think he's going to help!" she whispered fiercely. "I was afraid he wouldn't."

Harry shrugged, he hadn't really thought about this part.

A moment later, Ollivander came back with a box and set it gently on the counter. Opening it, he pulled out a purple rock. "These are usually the ends of staves, when I make them, perhaps one of them will work. Hold this flat in your hand and tell me what you feel."

Harry had barely taken the rock with Ollivander snatched it back. "Definitely not. Hmm, maybe this one."

The red and black rock sat in his hand. "Slightly cool, like a rock."

Ollivander took it and handed him a smoky colored one.

"Something is there, but I don't know what," Harry explained.

"Close then, try this." Ollivander handed over a golden-smoky colored rock.

"Warm and tingly, surprisingly nice," Harry told him.

Hermione beamed. "Do you have two?"

"I supposed he does have two hands," Ollivander said as he dug around in the box for a moment before pulling another out and handing it over. "Does it feel the same?"

"Yes."

"Then you have what you need." Ollivander looked at Hermione. "These will not be good foci for delicate work. They will best be used for area and large effects, much like what you asked for. As to whether they will do all that you need," he shrugged, "that will probably be up to Mr Potter and they will be most effective when touching his skin."

"Thank you, Mr Ollivander," she said brightly.

"Yes, well, good luck, and that will be 50 Galleons for the two," he told them.

Harry practically emptied his money bag, but he felt it was worth it. "Uh, Mr Ollivander, can you make wands to not be breakable and otherwise indestructible?"

"Yes," he smiled, "I wondered if you'd need that too. It will be another 20 Galleons and take about an hour."

Harry pulled out his wand and handed it over. "We'll be back in an hour."

Hermione turned the sign back around on the door as they left before they headed to the bank for more money. She was almost giddy with how this project was coming together.

* * *

(A/N: I'm focusing on the characters for the moment, but action starts in a couple of chapters.)


	4. Chapter 4

(A/N: Here's the next chapter a little early. :) I've had multiple people over all the chapters ask about bringing in various "modern materials", Kevlar being the most sited. Something like that combined with magic would be really cool. In fact, it makes me wish I had the financial resources of Tony Stark to pursue something like that. Alas, I'm not rich like Tony and magic isn't real as far as I know. Also, even Hermione's "light reading" wouldn't cover modern Material Science. :)

* * *

 **Chapter 4**

Harry met McGonagall outside again before they walked back to Mrs Figg's and left from her back garden straight to Hermione's living room.

"Now," McGonagall looked at each of them, "you had a few successes last time, Mr Potter, and I'd like for you to build on that. Apparate around the room to get more experience. Miss Granger, you were very close and I feel you'll get it today." She conjured a half a dozen hoops around the room, mostly for Harry, and then took a seat on the couch to watch and answer questions as needed.

She was amused to see Harry Apparate the meter or so between him and Hermione, give her a quick chaste kiss and a whispered something before popping away to the other side of the room. Hermione blushed and stole a quick look at her teacher, who gave an encouraging smile back.

A moment later, a loud crack sounded and the other two looked over to see Hermione had Apparated for the first time. She patted herself down then looked pleased after a look over her shoulder showed nothing left behind.

"Excellent, Miss Granger. Think carefully about how that felt, then duplicate it by going to a new hoop." McGonagall was not surprised when Harry popped over to stand in front of the girl and gave her another kiss before popping away. It was all she could do to maintain a neutral expression instead of cackle in delight; these two were so like Harry's parents.

After Hermione had completed her fifth Apparation and seemed to have the hang of it, she called a stop. "I think we need to go for longer distances where you can't see the destination. Take a good look around this room as you will be coming back here."

When they had, she took Harry's hand and took him to a place in the woods not far away, then went back for Hermione and took her as well.

"In case you're wondering, it is very difficult to Apparate to a place you've never been to before, so please don't try it for several years," she lectured them. "It will be covered in class at school, which I will still expect you to attend. The better you know where you're going, and the less rushed you are, as well as the more experienced you are, the less chance there is of you Splinching yourself. I will deal with that subject on Friday.

"Now, take a good look at where you are so you can come back here. This is several miles away from Miss Granger's house; I scouted it out this morning. Once you know where to come back to, you may Apparate to her living room. I will follow to make sure you arrived." Minerva watched each look around and then they each took on a look of concentration and left, barely a second apart. Pleased there were no body parts left behind, she followed them and found them safely in the living room.

"Excellent. How are you feeling?" she asked. "Tired?"

"No," they each told her.

"Please tell me if that changes. Now, return to the forest; I'll be along in a moment." After they left, she gave them a moment to celebrate before going herself. "Excellent. I shall stay here and let you go back and forth twice more before we call it a day. Friday, I'll let you meet me at Miss Granger's house, Mr Potter."

Harry was pleased by her trust and his new freedom.

By the end of the session, they seemed to have it down. Minerva returned to school very pleased. She'd never really had any doubt that those two would pick it up quickly.

Young Ronald was another story as he never exerted himself unless he had too. She was also curious if he knew those two were dating. She supposed she'd hear about it later.

— — —

That afternoon, the teens concentrated carefully and Apparated to the blacksmith's shop. Fortunately, Burns was in the house eating lunch so they didn't scare him.

Harry helped Burns with the blacksmithing while Hermione started on adjusting the armor they did have. He also noticed that the mound of coal was getting small, so he transfigured various bit of scraps to coal, including some branches, rags, anything he found in the rubbish bin. Burns was pleased with this.

Harry had never considered what a blacksmith did in today's world, but it was actually interesting. There were a few "older items" that he was commissioned to do from time to time, like shields, suits of armor, horseshoes, or rims and hubs for wagon wheels. However, most of his work was custom work that was ornamental like: door knockers, shoe scrapes, lamp frames, gates for fences, decorations to hang on the wall, and other things of that sort.

Having read Hermione's spell book on metalworking, it only took him a few tries to learn how to take an iron rod and after getting it hot in the fire, then to use a spell to flatten it to the correct thickness. Another spell allowed him to make the metal curl. Burns told him what Harry was doing in a few minutes might have taken him an hour. This helped Harry to understand how they were going to give the man time to work on their project while not missing his deadlines on existing orders.

Harry did the rough work and let Burns do the final shaping. It was a surprisingly enjoyable experience for Harry; he liked working on something with his hands and seeing the final result.

Meanwhile, Hermione had started with the helmet since it was self-contained and essentially ready for her now. She had taken the original faceplate off and worked on another faceplate, one that was flatter, having only a slight curve to it.

By the end of the day, Harry was dirty with coal dust and his arms were very tired from moving the metal parts around. Hermione had a new faceplate crafted that Burns mostly approved of.

"It fits on the helmet well enough, but it's solid so he'll never be able to see out," Burns complained.

To Harry's surprise Hermione answered, "He will when I'm done with it." The helmet fit him, but he had to agree with Burns that he couldn't see a thing with the helmet on. Still, he trusted her with it.

After they Apparated to Hermione's home, they got cleaned up and had dinner with her parents. The conversation tonight was pleasant without any sensitive topics. Harry also had a long good-night kiss before he Apparated to the Dursley's back garden. All in all, it was a good day.

~~~IronWizard~~~

Thursday was like Wednesday and Harry was starting to understand much of the next couple of weeks would be like this.

Friday, McGonagall finished her planned lessons, including what to do about Splinching.

The afternoon at the blacksmith shop was a little different in that Mr Burns put his other work aside and helped with the suit of armor all day.

"Harry, let's start putting the pieces on." Burns would hand Harry one and teach him how to connect them when necessary. When there were was a slight misfit, he'd mark it with a grease pencil then hand it to Hermione to cut along the line.

The pieces for the biceps were the only ones too short for Harry. "I'm going to have to make new ones," Burns finally admitted. "I don't think you'll like the end product if I try to add to their length."

"Can't we just enlarge them?" Harry asked.

Hermione shook her head. "He's right. If the joint or my spell-work failed you wouldn't like the result. However, we can speed him up."

"That will be very helpful too as working with high-grade steel is slower than iron." Burns looked at it thoughtfully. "Still, we might be done with it all by the end of next week if we're really lucky and the end of the week after looks almost guaranteed."

"That'd be great!" Harry was amazed. "That means we'd be done a week early."

Burns smirked at them. "That's my guess and I'm not always good at that, especially on the bigger projects. We'll see."

For each piece Hermione cut, Burns would modify the ends to smooth and round. He'd then hand those to Harry to clean and polish. Hermione would take the end result and start to carve her runes in each piece, going in the same order. The runes for making them even harder were the same that was used on Bludgers and that would only be added at the very end.

As they quit for dinner, Hermione looked at the piles of armor parts. "The pile of the ones we've completed looks so much smaller than the large pile still to be done … and that doesn't count the body which is going to be very difficult and we haven't even started. I don't know how we're going to be done by the end of week after next."

Not sure what else to do, Harry pulled her into a loose hug, despite that they each were sweaty. "Don't get discouraged, we'll do it somehow."

"I know, but there's still a lot to be done." Hermione looked over to the man who was covering the fire with ash to slow its burning so it would still be going in the morning. "Mr Burns, can I take the helmet with me? I think it's done as far as the metal is concerned."

He walked over and took it from her, examining her last bit of work it. "Yes, the hinge on the faceplate looks good and I like the flare at the bottom. We can work with that. Are you sure you don't want any decoration on it?"

"No, plain is actually better; it's why I gave it a mostly flat faceplate. Do we need to be here tomorrow?" She looked like she hoped the answer was no.

"I think Monday will be soon enough. I need to finish another order tomorrow and I always take Sunday off to give my body time to recover." Burns smiled. "Go have a good weekend and rest yourselves. You really need to work up to this to do it six days a week."

They bid him good-bye and Apparated to Hermione's, where they cleaned up. Harry had learned to bring another pair of clothes with him each day and only wore his oldest ones for working in.

After a quick dinner, Emma drove them a little way to a cinema and dropped them off.

"Which one do you want?" Hermione asked him as they looked at the list of movies available.

"I don't really care, you pick," he told her. He had never been to a cinema before but didn't want to tell her that.

With a bashful grin, she purchased two tickets to a film called "Mission Impossible". By the end, Harry wondered if she had picked this film for the leading man. He hadn't really minded as the leading girl was quite pleasant to look at.

Walking hand and hand after the movie was over, she led him down the street and a block later they came to an ice cream shop. Harry bought the ice cream and they sat to eat.

"Did you like the movie?" she asked.

"Yes. Parts of it didn't seem very realistic, but considering what it's like for us at school, maybe that stuff could happen too," he mused.

Hermione giggled and smiled impishly, "No, definitely movie magic." She ate more ice cream and looked at him. "Of course, what they did would have been much easier if they could, uh, do what we do."

"True," he agreed as he considered how hard it was to discuss magic without giving the secret away. He looked around and there were a few too many people nearby for his comfort to say more. "Probably best that things are like they are."

She nodded and they continued eating and making faces at one another, just having fun like average Muggle teenagers.

"I received a letter from Ron this morning," he told her. "It didn't say much. Have you received anything from him?"

"Yes, I received one a few days ago." Hermione seemed to struggle with something for a moment. "Professor Dumbledore sent me a letter too. He asked I not write you about any war news this summer. I'm reasonably sure he asked the same for Ron and that's why his letter was so short."

Harry couldn't help his scowl. "Like last summer then."

"Mostly." She grinned mischievously. "I don't need to write you when we're seeing each other every day though, do I?"

"No," he grinned back at her before his expression fell as another question intruded on his good feelings. "When are we going to tell Ron about us?"

Hermione's grin fell too. "How do you think he's going to take it? You're his best mate."

Harry snorted. "You know as well as I do that's not going to go well, or at least I don't think so. I think he might like you."

"Really?" She sounded surprised. "He's never acted like it. Has he said something to you?"

"No, but I've seen him watching you at times," he admitted.

Hermione sighed. "I didn't know that, but I would agree that he won't take this well as I think he'll feel left out. I would say to wait until the train ride back to school."

"There's no good time really," Harry groused before he had a thought and grinned. "His reaction to you and Viktor is another indication."

She gave him a sour look. "I've been trying to forget that."

As they both finished and were considering whether to go or stay a few more minutes, a couple of girls their age walked up. "Well, look who's here with a boy," the slightly taller of the two blondes said.

Hermione rolled her eyes and stood. "Let's go, Harry. There's no need to waste time with them."

"Harry, huh?" the other blonde said as she looked at him as he stood. "Not too bad, I suppose. Want to come with us instead of the bookworm?"

Harry took his girlfriend's hand as he said, "I have no idea who you are but it really doesn't matter. Hermione is at the top of our class for gifted students and I can't imagine how you could compare to that." He pulled his girlfriend out of the shop leaving two speechless girls behind.

"Thank you," she said softly with a large smile once they were outside. "They live in my neighborhood and used to tease me a lot in first grade, not that I stayed in their class long. Now I just try to avoid them as they aren't worth the effort of even arguing."

A moment later she pulled him into a dark spot and kissed him long and deep, leaving each of them panting slightly. "I think we should each go home from here," she said finally as she hugged him tightly.

"Probably for the best," he agreed without letting her go.

"Come over tomorrow at ten?" she asked, sounding like she really wanted it.

"I wouldn't miss it." He kissed her one more time before finally stepping back. A moment later he was in the back garden of Privet Drive and looking forward to tomorrow morning. Hermione Apparated directly home as well.

~~~IronWizard~~~

It was Saturday morning, not that Harry really felt much that was different. To him, since he wasn't in school every day was about the same. One actual difference though was that Vernon was at home and not at work.

While they all ate breakfast together, Harry noticed that Vernon kept giving him looks that Harry could easily interpret as Vernon being unhappy with him. He thought he was going to get away from any unpleasantness as he finished his breakfast, but Vernon finally erupted.

"Boy! You're not doing enough chores around here to earn your keep."

Harry looked at him, doing his best to keep his cool. "I've cleaned the bathroom and washed the dishes every day, and I'll mow the grass tomorrow. I will keep my word."

"It's not enough!" Vernon bellowed.

Pushing back from the table, Harry pulled his wand out and pointed it at his uncle, causing his aunt and cousin to whimper softly once, while his uncle paled and leaned back. "I'm doing more than Dudley is and I've always done more since he never does anything around here."

"He's our son, he doesn't have to do anything," Vernon argued. "You're just a worthless freak that we never should have kept-"

With a wave and jab of his wand, Vernon went silent. Harry looked hard at his uncle, trying to decide what to do. "I think I'll stop with the dishes. Your wife can do them as she must during the year as I know you wouldn't … or you can make Dudley do them as he really should learn.

"Three weeks, Uncle, and I'll be gone forever. I suggest you do not anger me again or I'll do more than silence you for a few hours." Harry turned and walked away, his pleasant feelings from the morning now gone.

In the back garden, Harry took a few deep breaths to calm himself before he Apparated to Hermione's back garden. He saw her sitting on the back porch reading a book and having tea.

"Hi," she told him with a smile. "I'm having a good morning so far, how about you?"

"Hi," he returned a little depressed. "Not really. I had to silence my uncle with the threat of doing more if he didn't behave. I can't tell you how much I appreciate you getting a waiver of magic for me. It solves one of my problems neatly."

"I'm really sorry, you shouldn't have to deal with that, Harry," she told him very caringly.

He waved it away. "It's fine and it's not your problem, but thanks for the help." He sat beside her. "So, what did you want to do today?"

"Other than hold your hand?" she asked with a mischievous grin as she grabbed his. "I wanted to talk about what's needed to move the suit. I know you need to go forward, stop, hover, turn, things like that, but I wanted to talk about what you wanted to do to make that happen … you know, what movements you will do to make it work."

"Oh, right, good idea," he agreed. "Maybe we should get your notebook?"

"The notebook you make fun of?" she teased but stood, not letting go of his hand, so he stood too and followed her.

When they went inside, Harry heard music with a strong beat with a group singing about staying alive. Hermione groaned and stopped in the kitchen while Harry walked ahead a few steps and stood in the doorway to the living room. There, he saw Emma dancing to the music, and it wasn't just swaying to the music as she did housework but actually dancing.

Hermione grabbed his hand. "Come on, Harry, just ignore her; she'll be doing this all day."

He saw his girlfriend roll her eyes and she seemed embarrassed for some reason. On the other hand, her exclamation caused her mother to look over at him.

"Do you dance?" she asked without missing a beat to her dance.

"No, he does not, Mum," her daughter told her emphatically.

"Then he needs to learn," she told them as she danced over and grabbed Harry's hand, pulling him away from her daughter.

"Mum!"

"Hush, honey, I'm sure his mother would have done this with him." Emma looked at Harry and smiled. "Now, feel the beat and move with it. I'll slow down and we'll move every other beat; copy me."

Harry wasn't sure what to think, but he didn't want to offend her and she had hit a nerve in a good way; he would have loved to have had times like this with his mother. So he started to step like she did - stiffly.

"That's right, step into it, keep your knees slightly bent. You can go side-ways like this too." Emma moved to show him and he did his best to copy, thankful she had simplified her moves from earlier. "Come on dear, you can join us too like you used too."

"I need to get my notebook," Hermione said hastily and practically ran for the stairs to go to her room.

"Add a little arm movement, do whatever you think is natural," Emma told him.

The song came to an end and another fast song came on, this time something about jive talking, which made no sense to him.

"Same sort of style, Harry," Emma told him. "This is freestyle when we're each dancing individually."

He thought he was starting to get the hang of it. "This isn't too hard," he told her.

"Good, now add turns or twirls when you feel like it," she did one as an example.

Harry tried and found it wasn't too hard, but he wasn't nearly as graceful as she was. He also noticed that Hermione had returned and was watching them from the stairs. He waved her over.

"No," she answered with a shake of her head, "it's not something I like."

"But it's something I like," Dan's voice said as he came into the room and danced his way over to his wife. Emma faced him and started her more complicated moves at full tempo and he matched her perfectly.

Harry slowed down and moved over to where Hermione was to watch the two. "They're really good together."

Hermione sighed. "Yes, there's no denying that."

The song ended and a slower one started. The couple changed styles without missing a beat, coming together with one hand out and the other on their partner's waist.

"Do you want to do that?" she asked hesitantly.

He could tell she wanted the answer to be 'no'. "Hermione, I don't automatically dislike it, but you don't have to worry, I won't be asking you to do that."

With a sigh of relief, she leaned against him. "Thank you," she told him softly.

They continued to watch and as the song ended, Harry asked, "How did they get to be so good?"

Hermione grabbed his hand and pulled him through a door and into the study. One wall was bookshelves, but they didn't hold books but trophies.

Harry walked up and looked at the label of one. "Dance Champions, 1976".

"They paid for a lot of meals," Dan's voice said as the couple walked in and over to the largest. "This one paid for our rent for most of a year, which was really helpful."

"And they were a lot of fun," Emma added wistfully, "ah, the good times. Now, dancing is for fun and a way to get some exercise and keep some unwanted pounds off."

"I'm impressed at so many trophies," Harry told them.

"Thank you, Harry," Emma told him. "If you ever want lessons, just ask. I'd be delighted to teach you more."

He smiled at her. "Thanks! Maybe I will later."

"Come on," Hermione told him and grabbed his hand. "Let's get some cold drinks and go out back to talk."

Harry enjoyed the day there with Hermione, teasing her and joking. They also talked about his suit too.

When he returned home, his uncle still looked upset with him though he could talk again. Concerned his uncle might try to do something to his things, he looked through his books until he found the Muggle-Repelling Charm, which he applied to his door.

~~~IronWizard~~~

Monday, Harry returned to the blacksmith's shop. Burns showed him several items. "See these? I need you to make the rough size and shape and eight of each. I'll be back in a couple of hours."

"Oh, where are you going?" Hermione asked, looking up from her work.

"I need to go get supplies, iron and steel mainly," Burns told them. "The steel is for your project." He pointed at the parts in front of Harry. "If you get all of those done, then it will free me up for the next couple of days to work on your project."

"All right," Harry agreed.

When they heard his little truck leave, Hermione looked at him. "You know, I really appreciate him squeezing us into his schedule when he already had commitments, but it still feels like he's taking advantage of us by having you do so much work on his other projects."

Harry shrugged as he heated a bar. "I can understand, but he is squeezing us in when he didn't have to and we're getting what we want for half-price. He could have insisted we come back when he had time and charged us the full amount. Besides, I'm learning something new that's kind of cool." He looked over to see her react to his educational appeal as expected.

"I suppose I shouldn't be opposed to you learning," she told him with a grin, which he returned.

— — —

By the end of Tuesday, Burns had the new bicep pieces in their approximate size and shape, which Harry had helped with. Harry was surprised that Hermione had wanted them to be slightly oval and she'd changed the forearms to match.

"Why?" he'd asked as he tried them on by themselves to make sure they weren't too small - they weren't.

"While not the same shape as wings on an airplane, they will help you fly a little better this way, or so I think," she answered.

He stared at her for a moment. "How in the…" he censored himself as he imagined her reprimand about his language. "How did you think of that? That wasn't in the comic book."

She finished a rune before pushing some magic into the piece she was working on. "I thought about it and looked up aerodynamics in the encyclopedia at home and it seemed reasonable. Now, come here." She conjured a pair of thick leather straps.

"Put these on," she told him and handed the lower half of the suit to him. "I don't have the hardening runes on them yet, but I have everything else."

As he did, she attached the leather straps to the back and pulled them over his shoulders and attached them to the front of the lower half of the armor. "These will make sure they don't fall off."

Harry looked at the entire bottom half, from the part that connected the legs, down the legs, to the metal shoes/boots. "That's looks cool. They feel snug with the Cushioning Charms in them too."

Burns came over and looked too before nodding his approval.

"Think very carefully about the movements you said you wanted as controls. Do _**NOT**_ do those yet," she commanded him. "Just walk for a moment. If it starts trying to fly, press these two spots to stop it." She pointed out small circles with a rune in each, one on each leg.

Very carefully he took a step then another. "A little stiff but not bad. Also, not too heavy, so good job there." His foot hit the leg of Hermione's chair and he took a tumble. "It's all right, I'm good," he called out as Burns laughed heartily and Hermione hid a giggle behind her hand.

Climbing back to his feet, he forgot and pointed both feet and the same time and boots started pushing forward and flipped him over, causing more laughter. Resetting the position of his boots to turn the thrust off, he reached down and pressed the two circles to disengage the flying charms and then tried again to get back up. He was successful this time.

He noticed that Hermione was still cracking a grin at him. "Sorry, but that was funny," she told him. Burns was still chuckling.

"I suppose," he said with resignation before walking around a bit. "It works, but the boots are a little slippery."

"Sure, smooth metal on a hard surface," she said with a nod. "I had planned on putting rubber on the bottom like a tennis shoe. You'll notice you aren't making noise as you walk. I put silencing charms on all the parts of the suit."

Burns grunted. "Good idea. A full suit can be quite noisy."

Harry cast cushioning charms on the ceiling and then put his wand away before pressing the two circles on his legs again.

"What is that for?" Burns asked.

"Cushioning Charms in case I make a big mistake," Harry answered as he concentrated on his movements and pointed both of his feet a little at the same time. He lifted up about a foot in the air and floated, making it look like he was only standing in the air. He was having to move his arms and body a little to maintain balance, but that decreased as he gained his experience and learned to control himself better.

Another change and he shot up and only his arms above his head prevented him from crashing into the cushioned ceiling before he lowered himself.

Hermione screamed a short, "Careful!"

"I'm trying," he told her in a clipped tone. A little more trial and error had him slowly going up and down before he fully lowered himself and pressed the circles. "I think it'll work," he told her, "I just need more practice and have the rest of the suit. You're totally brilliant, Hermione."

He opened his arms and she rushed over and they hugged.

"Impressive," Burns said. "I can see that you might actually make this work. I didn't think you would at the beginning."

"Hermione can do almost anything," Harry said proudly, knowing that wasn't completely true, but believing it at the moment.

— — —

The next evening after dinner when they were at her house and in her room, Hermione handed Harry the helmet she had taken home and worked on in the evenings after he left. She pressed a pair of circles and then handed it to him.

He shrugged and put it on. When she lowered the faceplate, the helmet went from dark to the same brightness as the room they were in because he could see the room. He just stood there and gawked.

"Harry, isn't it working?" she asked worriedly, sounding normal despite him having the helmet on.

"Yeah, it's spectacular," he said in awe. "How did you do this?"

"It's the same work that's on the ceiling of the Great Hall at school; Professor Babbling told me how. It's on the entire inside of the helmet, so whichever way you look you should be able to see," she explained.

"I can, even looking up. You are definitely the smartest witch in our generation."

She blushed before she grabbed his hand and put it up to the helmet. "Feel this spot?"

"Yeah."

She turned her back to him and looked over her shoulder to say, "Press it, count to five, then turn it back off."

Harry couldn't figure out why she looked so embarrassed, but he did as he was told as she continued to watch him over her shoulder with a blushing look. The image on the inside of helmet turned from full-color to strange bluish-gray hues for everything. Looking at Hermione to ask her what that rune did, he noticed that he could all of her, as if her clothes weren't there. He couldn't help but gape.

"Harry, press the button again and lift the faceplate, please."

He blinked and then reached up and pressed the button, causing the image to go back to full-color before he lifted the faceplate.

She turned around and walked up to him. "That will allow you to search for the Dark Mark, even through a cloak. Please, don't abuse it, but I think you're going to need it."

He blinked again, several times as he processed that and how she felt she was trusting him considering what he could do with that. "I understand. It works the same way Moody's eye does, right?"

"Yes," she sounded a little relieved at his answer. "It works in the dark too, or it did for me when I tried it. Still, please don't abuse it."

"Of course, I promise not to look at other girls with it." She looked grateful and he knew that he had guessed her fear correctly. "However, can I say that you have a very nice bum?"

She blushed and took the helmet off of him. "Thank you," she said quietly. "While I could hear you because you didn't have the rest of the suit on, normally people won't be able to hear you speak, so you can say whatever spell you want and they'll never hear you. If you need to be heard, say 'Sonorus' to be heard outside the suit and 'Quietus' to stop that. It will also lower your voice to disguise it. Obviously, there are listening charms on it so you can hear normally too. Lastly, I've added a way for air to get in so you can breathe without spells getting in also."

"Very practical," he told her and then kissed her. "Full marks, Hermione." She blushed but looked pleased at his compliment. He took the helmet from her and set it on her desk before he wrapped his arms around her. "You deserve a reward for that work." He kissed her as he pulled her to him. She snaked her arms around his neck and they kissed for several minutes, each enjoying it immensely.

~~~IronWizard~~~

Harry sent a letter back to Ron saying he was doing all right. He even said the Dursleys were treating him well this summer. He left out the fact that was due his being able to use magic. Just to have a little fun with his friend, he also asked if he'd picked his classes for next year. They didn't have their OWL scores yet, but Harry knew what classes he planned to take, even without knowing his scores. He knew he wouldn't have Potions with Snape, even if by some miracle he received a good enough score for it; he wouldn't be taught again by Snape by his own choosing if he could help it.

He also found that his repelling charm on his door had been a great idea. None of the Dursleys bothered him when he was in his room. Of course, the fact that he only shared breakfast with them on most days helped a lot.

Hermione's parents had been great in letting him eat at their house whenever he wanted. He and Hermione had gone shopping for food a few evenings and Harry had purchased the food as a thank you. He spent as much time over there as he could.

Arriving at the Blacksmith's shop for another day, Burns continued working on the arms to make it all fit together properly.

Meanwhile, Hermione was working on the gloves. He watched her put a small hole in the left one and then start working with the crystal they had purchased from Ollivander. She took her time positioning it and then adjusting the hole for a better fit. He enjoyed watching her for a moment - her hair pulled back, in a T-shirt and shorts with some nice lightly-tanned legs showing.

Burns called him over and had him try on an arm. "Not quite," he said before he took the piece back over to the anvil to adjust it with his hammer. Harry had no idea what wasn't correct, but he had to trust each of the other two to do what they thought was right. His time would come to do what was right also and he thought he had the hardest part. He had started working on that mindset recently.

By the end of the day, Burns was happy with both arms and Hermione handed him the left glove. "Try it," she told him and watched carefully as he slipped it on. "Carefully try summoning and banishing."

Harry held his arm out with the palm facing towards a lump of coal and thought, ' _Accio'_. Nothing happened. " _Accio_ ," he said out loud. The rock wiggled but didn't come flying as it should have.

"Err," Hermione growled. "Give that back to me." She worked on it a few more minutes before handing it back.

Harry put it on and tried again. " _Accio_." The coal flew to him, but he couldn't hold on and it fell to the ground. "Good work, although I can't hold it. The crystal sticks out too far for me to really grab it."

"I know," she said a little disappointed. "It was the best I could do. In theory, you could hold things if you could maintain the Summoning Spell. Or something thin like parchment could be held with just your fingertips. Try a banishing."

He held out his hand and tried to banish a stick at his feet; the stick flew across the room and out the doorway. "Wow," he said slowly with awe. He tried again not focusing on anything and it knocked him back a few steps and on his bum. "Bloody hell that hurt."

Burns laughed at him while Hermione said, "Language, Harry." Her reprimand was meaningless as she was giggling when she said it.

Getting up, he found a pair of metal tongs underneath him, which caused him to mutter darkly.

"Try less power," she suggested. "I think that will help you to turn when you're flying."

"Good idea." He smirked at her. "A second glove would help too."

She rolled her eyes at him. "I'll work on it tomorrow. Come over here, I want to look at something." She examined the glove on his hand, had him make a fist too.

"What are you doing?"

"Checking out an idea I had," she muttered as she continued to look. "Maybe, but I'll need to find another rune first," she sighed at the end.

"What?" he asked.

"I don't want to get your hopes up," she answered and let his hand go.

He disliked it when she announced she had an idea but then wouldn't explain it, but he didn't press her as she normally worked the idea out.

~~~IronWizard~~~

Hermione was adding the runes onto the pieces for the back of the body while Burns was shaping the pieces for the front based on their prototype. Harry was dubious at first if they could make the body work, but Hermione had the idea to create the pieces with aluminum foil and then transfigure them to tin to make them hold their shape. The three had spent most of a day doing that over and over with multiple pieces until they had a prototype that Hermione was happy with and that Burns said would really work.

Harry pulled on the two gloves now that they both were complete. Making sure the bottom half was ready, Harry practiced flying around the part of the room that had enough space for him to do this. The legs and boots provided the lift while the gloves gave him maneuverability, turning him as needed. He didn't have to swing his arms now to keep his balance as he became more experienced.

A car was heard pulling up outside, causing Harry to drop to the floor almost silently and run for the storage area where Hermione had just hidden in. They didn't want to be seen by anyone else, even if the person was a Muggle and shouldn't recognize them.

"Mr Rawlings," the blacksmith greeted the man who was dressed smartly, including a tie, and had a touch of gray in his short hair.

"Burns," the man said respectfully but with a hint of condescension. "Is my order ready?"

"Yes sir." Burns moved over and pulled a shield out with an emblem on it, which Harry had been told was the coat of arms for the man's family. "I even put the strap holders on the back. In the old days, you'd attach leather straps there to put your arm through to hold it, but they'll work well for you to put wire through and use them to hang on your wall."

"Very good." The man handed money over. "Can you load that into my auto?"

"Of course, sir." Burns cared it out and a few minutes later the car drove away.

"You can come out," Burns called with a hint of amusement.

Harry and Hermione came back into the main part of the shop. "That was the man you were expecting today?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah, he's the one," Burns replied as he returned to his work. "Pays well and is polite enough, I suppose. I think he'd send someone out here to do this so he didn't have to soil himself as this is beneath him, but I got the impression he wants people to think the shield and other things I've made for him have been in the family for generations. He's pretty snobbish, but as I said, he pays well.

"I don't think it would have been a problem if he'd seen you. I'm sure he would have thought you were my hired help."

"Probably so," Harry answered, "but why take the risk when we don't know who he's related to and I am fairly recognizable."

"You've got a point," Burns admitted reluctantly, "even my wife knows who you were before you came thanks to the _Daily Prophet_ and she wasn't raised in your world." He compared his current piece to the prototype and then resumed beating on it.

Harry was looking forward to the full suit being ready. He wasn't sure if he was ready for the feelings that would come with what he had to do, but he was good at ignoring feeling - the Dursleys had taught him that.

* * *

(A/N: Thanks to reader "Leicontis" for a few pointers about armor. He reminded me that breathing is important. :) The suit begins to be used for real next time.)


	5. Chapter 5

(A/N: For those that celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday, Happy Thanksgiving!)

* * *

 **Chapter 5**

The three looked at the final product as it stood in front of them, fully assembled and standing only because of a few spells. The body had been harder to do than they'd thought, even with the prototype, but they had finally finished on the 27th of July. Harry had just taken the suit off after trying it all on for the first time.

"You are brilliant, Hermione," Harry told her with an arm around her shoulders. "The dark blue looks good but I still think black would have been better for my needs."

Hermione harrumphed, "Thank you, but it can't be black. We don't want people to think you are a Death Eater."

"She has a point," Burns said as he looked at the suit, slowly walking around it. "A historian would be completely confused looking at this because it has parts from four different styles, but I think it'll do what you want, or at least the armor part will. I don't have any idea at all on the magic."

"From what testing I've tried on the individual pieces, I don't have any worries," Harry told him. "It's truly amazing."

Hermione walked forward and waved her wand over it to unstick part of it and started pulling it apart, handing the pieces to Harry to put into a large canvas bag she'd brought. When they were done, Harry pulled out a large stack of bills and handed it to the man.

"Mr Burns, thank you so much for working with us to get this done on our schedule. Here's Muggle money as you requested."

"You're welcome, Harry," Burns told him with a pleased look as he put the money in his pocket. "I wish you luck in your hunting. I know they'll eventually come after me and my family if they're successful, despite that I've tried to hide the connection to my father. Also, you don't have to worry, I won't say anything about this; I don't think anyone would believe me anyway. My wife doesn't know or care about what I've done for you."

"Again, thank you." Harry looked at his girlfriend and grabbed her hand. "Shall we?" At her nod he Apparated them both away.

They landed in the forest of Dean, the location of the Quidditch World Cup from a couple of years ago. As Hermione had hoped, the place was deserted.

Harry started pulling the pieces out of the bag and put them on; Hermione watched and didn't help as Harry would have to do this on his own soon and he needed the practice.

"Be careful with that," she told him. "I still have to add the hardening runes."

"I know, no dents or any damage really." He put the suit on from the bottom up: boots, legs, body, arms and gloves, and finally the helmet. In the darkening shadows of the late afternoon in the forest the dark blue looked almost black.

Harry did his now usual flight check of lifting off about a foot; using his gloves, he slowly turned in a circle before lowing himself.

"Trouble?" she asked as he moved around as if stretching.

`Sonorus` he said to the suit. "No, just figured I should make sure all the joints move like I want before I really fly it." He walked a little too. "Any last words before I really try it out?"

"Only be careful and not hurt yourself. We could rebuild this later, but there's only one of you." She looked a little afraid for him but tried to look strong.

"I will be careful, don't worry." He rocketed up to about 10 meters before he stopped himself. "It's very responsive when I try to make it move faster. Here I go." He started it moving and then leaned over and he went up over the trees and flew around. He tried to keep Hermione in sight though.

He zoomed down and past her and then flipped his boots forward and put on the brakes by trying to go the opposite direction. He came to a stop just in front of the trees, almost hitting one. He turned around vertically and flew slowly until he was near her and then set the suit down. `Quietus` he told the suit before he flipped the faceplate up.

"That wasn't too hard, other than the brakes didn't work quite as fast as expected." He grinned at her. "I could get used to this."

Walking over, she threw her arms over his shoulders and stood on her tip-toes to kiss him. "The suit makes you taller." Relaxing and standing normally, she asked, "So, do you like it enough that I can put the hardening runes on and make this what you'll use? Remember, once I do that we'd probably have to make one or more new pieces if we needed to change anything."

"I think it's good. I only need more practice but I don't want to do it until the suit is fully protected." He put a glove under the arm on the other side of his body and twisted so that glove came off. He handed it to Hermione before he took the other glove off and then the rest of the suit.

Five minutes later they were in her back garden and going into the house. Hermione took the bag with the suit to her room before coming back down.

"Your mum says we're having lasagna," Harry said with a smile.

After dinner, Dan pulled out the cards and the four sat down and played Rummy for a couple of hours. Harry had come to like the game that was a Granger favorite.

Harry walked to the back garden and Hermione went with him when it was time for him to leave.

"You'll be back tomorrow morning?" she asked as they held each other.

"Yes, I'll be here after breakfast. I don't want to impose on your parents too much; they feed me so much already," he told her.

"They don't mind. I think they see it as a way to keep watch on us, as if we might get up to too much trouble otherwise." She grinned at him. "I also know they like you."

"That's good to hear." He kissed her gently. "Your dad also told me the other evening that they've liked this summer because they've seen so much of you, that you haven't run off to be with your school friends as much as you did last summer."

She dropped her head to his shoulder for a moment. "I felt really bad about that." She looked at him. "I guess that's another reason for you to come here as much as you want." Her smile turned impish. "Of course, there is one more reason and it's the biggest."

"What?"

"Because I want you here; I like spending time with my best friend." She kissed him this time.

Harry stepped back slowly. "I better go or I might never leave. Good-night, Hermione."

"'Night, Harry."

~~~IronWizard~~~

The next day, Harry came over after breakfast, though he didn't do much to help her as she put the final hardening runes on. She did make him work on the little bit of summer homework they had, which was only reading. She'd have time to read during the family vacation.

"Harry?" she asked as she put one piece down and grabbed the next.

"Hmm?" He looked over the top of his book at her to see her looking at him very seriously.

"Will you make a few promises for me, regarding the suit, please?"

"For you, anything," he told her, not really able to resist her begging look when she was this serious.

"Please no looking at women's bits, or at least try very hard to avoid it. I know you'll have to look at arms, and well, that will allow you to see more of them than you normally would be able to, but please try to look as little as possible and focus only on their arms?"

While he wasn't completely sure why she asked, he thought he could guess. "I promise I'll do that. If it makes you feel any better, I don't really want to look at them; I'd rather look at you. I think you have perfectly wonderful breasts and other parts."

She blushed and looked pleased as she examined the armored part in front of her. "One day," she told him softly, "one day you'll get very lucky if you keep that up."

"I looked forward to it. What else?"

"I want you to survive; I want us to be together when this is done."

This was the one he was expecting. "I can't see the future, so all I can say is that I promise I will do everything in my power to survive. I really want us to be together when this is over too."

She played with her wand, turning it and tapping it against her leg. "I suppose that is all I can ask. Harry, one more thing?"

"It's yours if I can."

"When this is done and Voldemort is gone," she looked at him, her eyes drilling into his, "I'm done with adventures and I want you to be done too. I want … I want you to put the suit away. Put it some place safe, like maybe your vault, but away so there's no temptation to use it for something dangerous."

He put his book on the floor and moved over to her and pulled her close. She dropped her wand and clung to him. "Hermione, I promise that when this adventure is done, the suit will be stored and it'll only ever come out if I have to protect you and our family from something really big, like a new Dark Lord, a dragon, or something else that can't be avoided. The suit will only get used if there is no other way."

She kissed him gently on the check and buried her face back in his neck again. "I can live with that." She squeezed him tightly. "Thank you, Harry."

"Thank you for allowing me to protect you," he told her while rubbing her back.

"You're protecting everyone else too," she pointed out.

"Maybe, but only because I'm protecting you and your family … and some friends as well, but mostly your family." He sighed. "I can't bring myself to do it, but it's tempting to try to convince your parents to leave the country, the four of us going someplace safe."

"I know, I did think of it, but I know you wouldn't do that. That why I came up with the suit."

"Yeah," he said with a sigh, "I don't want to do all of this to fix the problem, but I will … someone has to."

They kissed hard for a few minutes before she pulled back and picked her wand back up to work on the next piece.

He scooted back to his place and picked up his book but didn't restart his reading yet. "Will you have that done by tomorrow afternoon?"

"Probably, tomorrow night for sure," she told him. "Why?"

He watched her for a moment as he considered the schedule. "I'll finish my training with it and then start tomorrow night if possible, or the night after for sure. I'd like at least one run and preferably two before your family goes at the end of the week."

"Don't forget we have your party at the Weasley's on Wednesday evening," she reminded him.

"Yeah, I have to remain at home so Mr Weasley can pick me up, or Ron said that he would in his last letter." He grinned at her. "That will be strange to be Apparated now that I can do it."

"I know, same for me."

"I won't be here until lunch tomorrow," he told her. "I need to go to Sirius's house and put things in order there so I have a place to stay while you're gone."

She harrumphed. "I wish you had a better place than that creepy house with that rude house-elf."

"Me too, but it's the best protected place I know and I need to leave the Dursleys. My new schedule will not work there." When she agreed and went back to work on the runes, he returned to his reading, although he didn't go very fast. Instead, he was mostly planning what needed to be done before Hermione and her family left.

~~~IronWizard~~~

Harry Apparated to Sirius's house and entered. It was completely quiet and that made it spooky. As quietly as he could so he didn't wake Mrs Black, something he was going to have to take care of, he went to the kitchen.

"Kreacher!" he called loudly.

As his count hit four, the elf popped in. "Filthy, nasty, half-blood-"

"Kreacher, stop!" The elf shut up. "I am now the head of the house of Black and I command you to treat me with respect. I'd dismiss you, but I have need of you." Harry was strongly tempted to get rid of Kreacher anyway and go find Dobby, but in some ways this was easier and he had need of some of Kreacher's knowledge.

"Now, has anyone else been in this house recently?"

"Nasty thief has several times. Old whiskers came once too," Kreacher complained.

"Can you make it so that only you and I can get in the house?" Harry almost held his breath as his plans required this or he'd have to go find somewhere else to live.

"Yes, Master." Kreacher almost snarled the last word.

"Excellent, make it so right now. I don't want 'Old Whiskers' or any of that group coming in here." Harry considered how much latitude to give Kreacher on his insubordination - perhaps a little wouldn't hurt. Then again, maybe things wouldn't be so bad between them as Kreacher looked pleased with that order.

The elf popped back a minute later. "It is done," he said mostly civil.

"Wonderful. Is there any food in this house?"

"Only a little."

Harry dug into his sack of money and pulled out a large handful of Galleons and gave it to the elf. "Take this and go buy enough food to feed me and yourself for at least two weeks. If you have money left over, put it in a jar in the kitchen for the next time we need food.

"After that, be sure the kitchen is clean as well as the master bedroom and its bathroom, then the library. I'll be moving in here at the end of the week and that cleaning must be done by then. Questions?"

Harry watched the elf struggle for a moment before Kreacher answered, "No, Master, I can do that."

"Oh, and no talking to Malfoys, Lastranges, or any of their friends or elves. Go." Harry looked around one more time before he left too.

He'd spend nights patrolling and chasing Death Eaters and sleep during the day. Any other time he had he'd clean and investigate what was in the house. He wasn't sure he'd keep the place; he supposed it would depend on if the memories depressed him too much.

As for the rest of his day, he smiled as he considered he'd get to spend it with Hermione.

~~~IronWizard~~~

The afternoon was spent back in the forest, but this time he went all out in his practice with Hermione watching and offering advice. She'd finished her work that morning.

Besides summoning and banishing spells, he was also able to do a cutting spell in a wide arc (unlike a normal cutting spell), and he was able to do an area stunning spell … the crystals didn't want to allow focused spells. Neither of these two spells were very powerful, but they would inflict damage in a useful way if not shielded against and they would be a surprise because the same spells from a wand had a narrow focus.

He practiced the spells on plants and trees. He also used his hardened armor to bludgeon some limbs and found the armor hard enough to break some branches that were about the size of his arm, so he knew it would really hurt a Death Eater.

The surprise was that he was about half again stronger. He couldn't lift cars or things that were really heavy like Ironman could in the comics, but the extra strength was very useful when hitting with his fist as demonstrated on the tree limbs.

He also had Hermione, as much as she didn't want to, cast some spells at him and none of them hurt him. A few pushed him back a little, but they didn't hurt. The Stunning Spell just bounced off harmlessly.

Hermione had yet another surprise for him, though this one wasn't as good. "Harry, the one weakness that I can think of is that spells that affect the environment around you could stop or hurt you. I've tried to help you with this, but I'm sure I haven't thought of everything."

"Like what?" he wondered.

"Temperature changes like fire and cold would be the most obvious," she told him. "I've put permanent flame freezing controls as well as heating controls on the suit to help with that, as well as to make it a constant temperature for you on the inside. They might also get you in something, like water, and then change it to something like ice or rock to trap you. I'm not sure how to help you with that other than to tell you to watch out and don't let that happen. Or maybe you can learn to do a Blasting Hex with your gloves."

"I understand." He grinned at her since his faceplate was up for the break in practice. "There is always my wand since Ollivander protected it and you gave me a way to use it." He touched a spot on the side of his leg and a small tube opened so the end of his wand was available. He pushed his right glove down over the end to allow a flap to move so a hole between his thumb and first finger opened and the end of the wand slid in so it was touching his skin. He cast a Fireball hex at a patch of dirt before putting the wand away.

"Assuming you have time to get it out and use it," she pointed out promptly. "Please be very careful," she begged.

"Always," he promised. "I think I've got the hang of it. Let's go home and have dinner with your parents. I'd like to go out tonight and do a patrol to see how it goes."

"All right. I think I should teach you a few healing spells before I go too," she said in her commanding tone that brooked no argument.

"Agreed," not that he would have argued with that because it made a lot of sense. "I should probably go to Diagon Alley to buy some healing potions too."

"I'll do that tomorrow for you so you aren't seen," she said.

"All right. Grab my arm?" When she did, he Apparated them both to her back garden and walked into the house to take the suit off until he needed it later.

Her parents looked at it in appreciation.

"I'm sure that was a lot of work, so good job for completing it," her father said.

"I agree," her mother said, "but I still wished you wouldn't do this. I don't want to see you hurt."

"Thank you, Emma, but it has to be done by someone," he told them before he started to leave. "Back in a minute after I take this off."

When her parents looked at her, Hermione said, "I don't want him to have to do this either, but I wouldn't trust the suit with anyone else."

— — —

Much later that evening, Hermione kissed him one more time before he pulled down his faceplate and donned his Invisibility Cloak. They had not been able to make the Disillusionment Charm work on the armor and Hermione had not been able to find a rune sequence to make that happen either. Still, he really only needed this to get into place and while he waited. He had a small pouch for it like he had the tube for his wand, except the pouch was much deeper on the inside than it looked on the outside.

Apparating to Diagon Alley, he made his way to Knockturn Alley, careful to avoid people who might bump into him. It was about an hour after dark, so the occasional torch on the wall was all that lit the place since most of the shops were closed.

Walking the entire length of it, he was pleased to find that there was only one way in and out, or at least that's what he saw. He had little doubt there were unofficial ways out. There was a pub here, which would be the main draw he thought; it looked rather seedy to him.

There was a short path off to the side near the entrance to Knockturn that led to a couple of shops that were closed and there was no torch. He ducked in there and pulled his special cloak off and put it away to protect it. A few steps from the edge, he made himself comfortable in the shadows and waited.

When he heard voices, he pushed the rune to give himself the ability to see through clothes and waited. Three men soon passed by and he saw no Dark Mark on any arms.

Looking around, he saw he had the ability to see through the windows into the shops even though they had no lights on. One sold paintings, a few of which caused him to blush; it also sold the service to create talking portraits. The other sold little knick-knacks, none of which looked bad. He wondered why they were in Knockturn Alley. The only guess that made sense was that because there wasn't enough room in Diagon Alley.

Another pair of men walked into Knockturn and Harry found one of them had the Dark Mark, but not the other. He almost attacked but held back at the last moment. They would have to come back by him later and there was the possibility they would be inebriated then, which would make his job easier. Well, the count was one as he continued his wait.

Half an hour later, he pulled his wand out and conjured a wooden chair as his legs were getting tired. A few more men had come by, but the count was still one.

An hour later a trio of men came by, all wearing the Dark Mark. Harry wondered how to take down three as he let them go past. Let's see, he thought, grab one, hit one, and banish the last, then clean up those still able to fight? Or was there a better order? He pondered the question as he waited.

The count was still at four when more people were starting to come out than were going in.

Suddenly, an old woman stumbled into the little corridor with him and fell into a disheveled heap in a back corner, all without seeming to notice him as he stood in the deep shadows. He had heard about "hags", but had never seen one before. He had little doubt that's what she was. As long as she stayed back there, he was prepared to ignore her.

His mind had barely dealt with that when the hearing charms on his helmet picked up the laughing approach of three men. He smiled to himself when he saw it was the three with the Dark Mark. Looking quickly up and down the alley, he saw no one else. Pulling back into the shadows, he glanced at the hag and saw that she appeared to still be asleep.

As the men passed the leading edge of his corridor, two were talking about some woman while the other stumbled slightly.

Harry took three fast silent steps behind them and brought his wide-open arms together quickly, catching the heads of the two talking and smashing them together with a crunch. As they dropped, Harry stretched out his right arm and banished the third one against the brick wall just as the man realized he might be in danger. The third was pulled into the corridor with an overpowered Summoning charm, causing him to hit the back wall and rudely woke the hag. Grabbing the first two at his feet by the collars, he pulled them into the little corridor so they wouldn't be seen easily from the main walkway.

The hag, which he looked at as little as possible, was eyeing him and the dead body in front of her, not really sure which she wanted to look at more.

Pulling out and engaging his wand, Harry vanished the left sleeves of the two victims in front of him to expose their Dark Marks. Searching them, he didn't find their Death Eater masks, but he did take their wands. A glance at the hag showed her to be searching the body and taking the man's money bag. Having the Death Eaters finance his summer activities sounded like a good thing to him, so he took the money bags of the two in front of him and dropped them into the pouch with his Cloak.

He shot a vanishing spell at the other's arm and then summoning the man's wand, startling the hag. He turned his voice on and then quietly said, "He's yours if you'll keep quiet about me." She nodded like a house elf and he hoped she kept her word.

Not quite ready to call it an evening since he knew there was another Death Eater nearby, he grabbed the two bodies and flew straight up and over a bit, landing on the roof. Dropping the bodies there as a hiding place, he flew slowly back down to the little corridor where the hag was looking at him with interest as she clutched the dead body to her. He turned his back on her in disgust, but willing to tolerate her for the moment despite the rumors he'd heard about hags.

More people left the pub, only a couple were woman, whom he didn't look at since he'd promised. He truly doubted Bella Lastrange would walk about here and she was the only female Death Eater he'd ever heard of.

Eventually, the last Death Eater he'd been waiting for approached with his friend, along with another party of four. Harry thought he'd have to let him go and faded back into the deeper shadows.

However, he got lucky in that the Death Eater and his friend stopped near him for a moment and pointed through the window of a shop across the way while the other party walked on. As the party of four turned the corner and left Knockturn, there were no others in sight so Harry cast his area Stunning Spell and watched the two fall. He quickly summoned them into his corridor so he didn't have to walk to them.

Checking the friend, it seemed he really did not have a Dark Mark, so Harry stunned him again but with his wand this time. He vanished the sleeve of the first to show the Dark Mark and took his wand and money pouch.

As he considered what to do, the Death Eater woke up. Harry moved and put knee on his chest and a gloved hand over his mouth while bringing his wand in front of the man's eyes; the man stilled immediately. He turned his voice on and said quietly, "What am I going to do with you, Death Eater?"

"Please, let me go, I beg of you," he said with a muffled voice around the metal hand over his mouth. "Or if you must, turn me into the Ministry. I'll stay in Azkaban, I promise."

Harry already knew what he had to do, though he wished he didn't. "I can't let you go and I'm afraid the Ministry won't hold you and I have no place to hold you. No, I'm sorry, but you made a very bad choice and must pay the price."

"Please-" he started to scream, but it was cut off with a banishing spell from the glove over his mouth. Harry was disgusted by the mess he'd made, and he hated himself to a degree, but his mind told him it was what had to be done.

With a last look at the hag to make sure she was still in her corner, he grabbed the two he had and flew up to the roof again. He stacked the four bodies with the probably innocent and unconscious man on top and bound them together with ropes before he used a cleaning spell on his armor, especially his left hand.

Looking below over all of Diagon, he waited a couple of minutes until he didn't see anyone; then he levitated the whole stack and flew over to the Apparation area for Diagon Alley. There, he deposited his prisoners and Disapparated away.

Landing in his godfather's house, he went up the stairs to his new bedroom, which he noticed was clean. Shedding his armor, he laid on the bed. He couldn't get to sleep as all he could see was the young man's eyes looking back at him, pleading for his life. It didn't matter if his eyes or open or closed, Harry could still see the other's looking at him … condemning him. Not able to take it, he left the bed and went back down stairs and Apparated away.

In the Granger's back garden, he was glad to see Hermione's bedroom light was still on. Hoping mightily that he wasn't about to get his face slapped off, he Apparated straight there as silently as he could. He was not surprised to see her still fully dressed - thankfully - and reading a book, even if it was 2am.

She looked to be only a little surprised by his appearance. She dropped the book and went to him quickly, pulling him into a hug. "Are you all right? Are you injured in any way?"

Her whispers and hug were a balm to him. "I'm fine, no injuries," he whispered.

"I waited just in case, but I didn't expect you until morning. What happened?"

Harry looked over and saw her bedroom door was closed. Letting go of her, he pulled her over to the bed and sat down; she sat next to him and held his hands in hers. He looked down at his feet, unable to look her in the face.

"I got four; I have their wands too." He squeezed her hand tightly. "The first three were easy as I had to fight them, but the last…" He took a few breaths. "I'd stunned him to separate him from his friend who didn't have a Dark Mark, but he woke up. I can still see his dark eyes as he looked at me, pleading for his life as I cast a banishment charm through his mouth."

Hermione gasped and then threw her arms around him, pressing her face next to his. "I'm so sorry you had to do that. I hate this war, but you were in the right logically. You have no prison and there's no place that will keep them from rejoining Riddle."

"I know, I had no choice; but it didn't make this easier." He rested his head on her shoulder, feeling hers move with him and her breath on his cheek and neck.

Hermione reached over and picked up her wand and shot a mumbled spell at the door. "Now I'll have notice if my parents try to come in. Take off your shoes and stay here with me. I'll do my best to keep the demons away."

He looked up at her sharply.

"Clothes stay on, but stay with me," she told him.

After a moment, he nodded and did as he was told. She threw her quilt over him before she spooned in behind him and held him. "You're doing the right thing and you're my hero for protecting me," she whispered as he went to sleep. "You're my hero."

She hated that he had to do this and hoped it didn't change him too much. Yet, she had hope that he could really end the war and survive.

* * *

(A/N: The hunting has started and it's open season on Death Eaters. :)


	6. Chapter 6

(A/N: Thanks to everyone for the reviews! Bonus chapter this week because of the holidays. This starts the 2nd half of the story chapter-wise.)

* * *

 **Chapter 6**

After what felt like having just fallen asleep, Harry was shaken awake.

"You have to go," Hermione whispered. "My parents are awake and they can't find you here. Don't forget your shoes."

He turned and smiled at her. "Thank you. That was the best night sleep ever."

She smiled and kissed him on the cheek. "Get your shoes and go quickly. Take a nap and I'll see you this evening."

Harry kissed her back before rolling out of bed and grabbing his shoes. With a last look at her, she smiled and held her finger to her lips, he nodded and did had best to be as silent as possible as he Disapparated.

He'd returned to Grimmauld Place where he knew he could get breakfast. From there, he'd return to the Dursleys since he knew people would be coming for him later. He'd take a nap while he waited since he was going to have to reverse his days and nights.

— — —

The doorbell rang at four in the afternoon, sooner than he'd expected. Harry had been awake only a short while and he still felt a little groggy. In fresh clothes, he went downstairs and entered the living room just as his aunt opened the door. He was surprised to see Dumbledore there and not Mr Weasley.

"Petunia, may I come in?" When she didn't move because of her staring, Dumbledore walked forward and she moved backward automatically. "Ah, Harry, it's good to see you. I assume you're doing well?"

Harry had had no plans to see the man before September, so he was caught off guard and not completely sure what to think of him. His feelings toward the old man had changed since the trip to the Department of Mysteries and his conversations with Hermione had reinforced his concerns. He didn't hate him or anything that strong, but he was wary after the revelations of what Dumbledore had done to him over the years. He decided that "civil" would have to do, as with his relatives.

"I'm well enough, sir." Harry entered the living room as his aunt closed the front door and stood there, not sure what to do.

Dumbledore turned to the side. "Petunia, could we sit and have a conversation? I have a small problem I hope you and Harry could help me with."

Harry took a chair as the others took a seat. His mind was working furiously to figure out what was going on and what he needed to do. He did his best not to think about his secret, or really secrets for the last month. He also did his best to clear his mind, just in case it helped.

"As you know," Dumbledore looked at Harry, "the protections I have placed here to help you are based on you calling this your home." He looked to Petunia. "The protections also protect you and your family because Harry lives here and calls it his home. Yet, my monitors tell me those protections are fading and are almost non-existent now. Can either of you tell me why that might be?"

Petunia just stared at the old man and Harry could tell she was scared stiff, almost literally. He sighed as he realized there was only one thing to be done. "It's very simple, Professor, none of us think of this house as my home. At best, we politely ignore each other, while at worst threats are made and sometimes carried out."

Dumbledore looked surprised and even slightly alarmed. "Harry, please tell me you are jesting."

"Ask her where I lived until my Hogwarts letter came and what my life was like. Go ahead, I'll wait," he said a little sarcastically. This was probably the biggest reason he disliked the man.

Dumbledore looked at his aunt who withdrew into herself even more and stayed mute. He eventually looked back at Harry.

"Your description of ten dark and difficult years barely scratches the surface, Professor," Harry told him. "I was beaten, starved, and otherwise mistreated. However, this summer things have been different and it's been a more pleasant summer."

"Why is that, Harry?"

"Because I'm old enough to defend myself in ways that can get their attention and they can no longer truly threaten me. My aunt knows that next summer I can use all the magic I want here and she remembers what my mother was capable of. She knows I'm on the edge and that they can no longer abuse me like they used to. Just a little more abuse and next summer won't be so fun, will it Aunt Petunia?" He looked over and saw his aunt with a fearful expression.

"Harry?" Dumbledore said with much concern. "You can _not_ go down this path. It is what turned Tom Riddle into Voldemort."

"And whose fault is that, Professor?" Harry said acidly, using this to keep attention away from the rest of his summer. "You allowed us both to be raised in an abusive environment and are you really surprised that each of us turned out disliking you? I won't go ' _dark_ ' like Riddle did, so count yourself lucky, but you are no longer nor will you ever be a professor that I like. You had the opportunity to do the right thing and threw it away to do the easy thing." He'd purposefully thrown the man's words back at him in the hope to drive the point home.

"You may see it in those simple black and white terms, Harry, but there were many issues and pitfalls surrounding you and your family," Dumbledore told him caringly. "I believe I did my best given the difficulties."

"Perhaps I am over simplifying it all, but that doesn't change the fact that you hurt me in multiple ways, starting with placing me here and making me return here through letting Sirius die and then throwing the prophecy at me. You don't know how close I came to leaving Britain over the summer and never returning, leaving Voldemort to you and all the idiots who scream in horror at his name."

Dumbledore was definitely surprised and alarmed now.

"Don't worry, I'll fight Voldemort because he killed my parents and to protect my friends, but I'm no longer a follower of yours. Also, don't ask me to join the Order; I have no desire to ever to do that." Harry told him, letting some of the frustration he'd been holding onto about Dumbledore out. Perhaps he was being hard on the old man, but he thought only the harsher words would get the man's attention. So much for being civil, he realized and tried to tone it down.

"Now that you have the answer to your question, was there anything else?" Harry asked more politely again.

"I was supposed to take you to your birthday party, but first I was hoping to have your help to recruit a teacher." Dumbledore looked hopeful.

"I had wondered why Mr Weasley wasn't here." Harry looked at him suspiciously. "Why do you need my help to recruit a teacher and why should I help?"

"He's a former professor and quite good; you know how difficult it is to hire good teachers, especially when I have to get a new one every year," Dumbledore explained. "He knew your mother quite well and so I was hoping you could help me to convince him to return. He could tell you quite a bit about both of your parents."

Harry had been planning on saying no until that last bit and he was almost certain Dumbledore had added that on purpose. "Fine." A part of him thought he might be making a big mistake, but he did want to know about his parents.

"Excellent. If you'll go pack your trunk, we can go," Dumbledore told him with a smile.

Now he felt the trap close around him and knew Dumbledore had manipulated him again. "Pack my trunk?"

"Yes, you can stay the rest of the summer at the Weasleys. I thought you'd like that as you are always asking," Dumbledore smiled. "It will be safer since the wards here are so low."

Harry had no doubt he had little choice in this. In the past, he'd always begged to go to the Weasleys. With the protective wards all but down, he was about to get his 'standing wish' even though this summer he really didn't want to go. In fact, it would ruin his plans; but what choice did he have at the moment?

"I'll be back in a few moments," he said as evenly as he could and left.

At least his suit was at #12, so there was no real incriminating evidence here. He packed quickly, grabbing everything he considered his as he never planned to return. There was one other problem - Hermione - but hopefully he could talk to her about it this evening … thinking of spending time with Hermione led him to consider Ron. Ugh! What a tangled and messy life he had at the moment.

There was one easy thing he could do. Helping Hedwig out of her cage, he told her, "I'm going to the Weasleys now, so why don't you fly over there. I'm sure you'll like that better." She gave him a grateful sounding hoot and flew out the window and into the approaching evening.

Returning downstairs with his trunk and an empty cage, he found the two adults sitting quietly. Dumbledore looked like he was reminiscing while his aunt looked like she was trying to hold herself together and not have a panic attack.

"Ah, you're ready." Dumbledore stood and pulled out his wand. With a spell that caused his trunk and cage to glow blue for a moment, they suddenly disappeared. "When did you need to return to tell your uncle and cousin good-bye until next summer?"

Harry gave him an incredulous look. "Never. I'm not coming back ever. I've already promised them that when I left this time it was for good."

"Now, Harry…"

"Have you already forgotten what I told you or did you never listen?" Harry huffed.

Dumbledore looked at him for a long moment. "Neither, I'm trying to be courteous as well as keep you as safe as possible."

"Our good-byes were said long ago," Harry informed him. He didn't even plan to say anything to his aunt who was right there. "Let's go or else I'll take the Knight Bus to the Weasleys." He could threaten that because he didn't want to show off his ability to Apparate, even if Dumbledore was supposed to already know. Ron and the rest of the Weasleys weren't supposed to see him Apparate, so he'd have to take the bus.

While he looked a little sad, Dumbledore held out his arm. "If you'll hold on, I'll take us to our next destination."

Harry soon found himself in a neighborhood of older houses. "Who are we going to see?"

"An old colleague named Horace Slughorn."

"He's not a Death Eater is he?" Harry had to know.

Dumbledore chuckled. "No, Harry, he is not. He's quite afraid of them though, or maybe I should say mostly of Tom."

"Oh," Harry realized the issue, "he's afraid of them taking him to Tom."

"Precisely. Hmm, I believe this is the house." Dumbledore led them in after a quick unlocking charm. The older man was hiding in the house.

"This is Horace Slughorn; Horace, I present Harry Potter, Lily's son." Dumbledore was beaming, apparently quite proud of himself.

Harry had to control himself not to groan as the man perked up. Another for the fan club, he thought and now understood why he was here.

"Why Harry, it's very good to meet you. You look so much like your father, yet I see your mother in your eyes." Slughorn may have been trying to come off like a favored uncle, but Harry found him a little creepy.

"Err, thanks." Harry looked around a little more. "So, why are you hiding here?"

"The times are not safe, young man. Surely you know that based on what I've read." Slughorn turned. "Albus, I know why you're here and the answer is still no."

"Are you sure, Horace? There is no safer place than Hogwarts," Dumbledore told him.

Harry had to stifle his reaction and not even cough; he really wanted to laugh - loudly.

Slughorn hesitated and looked at Harry for a moment. "No, Albus, I can see what you're trying to do and it won't work."

"I see," Dumbledore said. "Very well, we'll leave in a moment. Do you mind if I use the restroom before we go? The body is getting older."

He looked torn, but Slughorn pointed to a hallway. "I suppose; it's down that way."

Dumbledore smiled and walked in the direction indicated.

Slughorn looked at Harry. "What's your sales pitch?"

"Excuse me? I have no idea what you're talking about. He," Harry jerked a thumb down the hallway, "asked me to come with him here on the way to my birthday party."

"Congratulations," the older man said brightly.

"Thanks! So, he wants you to come teach at Hogwarts, I assume?"

"Yes. I retired and I like it most of the time; but there are times I do miss teaching," he said wistfully. "Your mother was amazing at Potions, even better than Severus actually. You have my sympathy for not having her to raise you."

Harry started to respond about his mother before something else clicked in his mind. "Err, Professor, what do you teach?"

"Potions, of course, what did you think?"

Harry was officially shocked as he realized that there was a good possibility that Dumbledore was manipulating him again. He stepped over and whispered conspiratorially, "So not Defense Against the Dark Arts?" If this man was to teach Potions, then that meant that Snape was about to get the one post Harry never wanted him to have.

Slughorn snorted quietly and then returned the whisper. "No, not my forte; why?"

Looking down the hallway and not seeing Dumbledore, he whispered, "Then I suggest you grab your things and disappear further away. Voldemort has been at Hogwarts almost every year I've attended and when I haven't had to fight him, I've had to fight Dementors and a Death Eater. If you don't want to defend yourself against things like that, it's not a good place for you.

"In addition, Dumbledore let Voldemort stay in the castle my entire first year." Slughorn was looking amazed and very uncomfortable so Harry continued. "In my fourth year, he let a Death Eater teach there for a year while impersonating an old friend, making me wonder if he's going senile if he can't tell that an old friend has been replaced. I've even given serious consideration to not returning this coming year and still might not."

"But…" Slughorn looked around in a panic like he was about to see a group of Death Eaters come into the house.

"You won't have long, but I'll do my best to delay him. Grab your things and go," Harry finished the whispered conversation.

Slughorn nodded vigorously and with a couple waves of his wand, things flew into a trunk that had looked like a coffee table before it all floated over to him. "Thank you, lad. Write me when it's safe; I'll be happy to tell you about your mother and show you pictures." He left with a crack.

Harry stared at the now vacant space as innocently as he could while he listened to hurried footsteps.

"Where is he?" Dumbledore asked.

"No idea, but he wished you well," Harry told him, not bothered by the lie at all. "After all, he did turn your job offer down, so why the surprise?"

"I had thought…" Dumbledore looked at Harry and his eyes narrowed.

Harry turned and looked around the room. It was a rather nice house for a non-magical house. "Shall we go to the Weasleys now?"

"Why did you do it, Harry?"

"Excuse me?" Harry looked back at the Headmaster.

"Why did you convince him to leave instead of stay and help us?"

Harry looked down for a moment before decided that maybe the truth would be best. "You implied he would be coming to teach Defense, but I found out he'd be coming to teach Potions. That means you'd be moving Snape to teach my favorite class while I was planning on dropping Potions so I'd never have to take another class with him again. So I merely mentioned my history at school and how many times I've had to deal with Voldemort or Death Eaters. He decided that his previous rejection of your offer was the correct one and left."

"I'm very disappointed in you, Harry." He looked it too. "We needed him."

Harry shrugged. "I just told him the truth. If he can't handle that, then Hogwarts really isn't the best place for him while we're in a war. So, is it time to go to the Weasleys for the party?"

Dumbledore sighed and shook his head slightly. "Actually, I would suggest you continue to take Potions. It would be good for you and the standard for NEWT potions has been dropped to an Exceed Expectations, so you do qualify."

"Not if Snape is teaching it," Harry told him adamantly, hiding his surprise that Dumbledore knew his OWL score for Potions when he hadn't seen his scores yet.

"That's Professor Snape, Harry. There are a couple more things I had wanted to mention before we went to the party. I believe that Sirius left his house to you. I would like to test that so that we might continue to use it for Order meetings."

"Oh, I already know he left it to me," Harry answered. "He told me I was his heir. As for the Order, I think not. I've already mentioned I have no plans to be a part of that. The house can stay like it is and I've already taken care of Kreacher."

"Taken care of?" Dumbledore asked with concern.

"Yes, I called him to me and he had to answer. He has strict orders to stay in the house except for food." Harry shrugged. "It's taken care of. What else did you want to discuss."

"You are full of surprises today, Harry." Dumbledore didn't look like he cared for that.

Harry shrugged again, liking being non-committal to irritate the Headmaster. "I'm growing up and you should know why since you explained it last June. The other issue?"

"Perhaps it can wait," Dumbledore said thoughtfully. "I had wanted to share a few things with you, but we'll make arrangements later."

"That's fine," Harry replied, getting very tired of this conversation. "Perhaps we should lock the door before we go?"

Dumbledore cast a spell and the front door slammed shut and locked. He held out his arm for Harry.

A moment later Harry was in the Weasleys' back garden - finally.

The first to see him was Hermione. They walked together quickly and hugged. "We need to talk later; I'm being moved here," he whispered in her ear.

"Don't mention us to Ron," she whispered.

"It's good to see you too," she told him as they pulled back. "Have you had a good summer? Your letters didn't tell me much." She scowled at him as if he hadn't done his homework.

He almost laughed at her charade. "I'm fine, you know I always am." He turned. "Ron!" They slapped each other on the shoulder in greeting as Hermione muttered about "boys".

Ginny and Mrs Weasley came over and gave him a hug too. Mr Weasley came out of the house with Remus and the twins and each gave him a cheery hello.

Harry enjoyed the food, cake, and company. He was appreciative that Dumbledore left shortly after dropping him off, so he didn't have to deal with the old man any more tonight. Harry didn't hate him like he did Snape, but he decided that did dislike the Headmaster as he found out more about what he had done and was apparently still doing. Harry agreed with fighting Voldemort, but thought that's where his agreement with Dumbledore ended for the moment.

Later after the cake and the group had been reduced to smaller groups and conversations, Harry left Ron and Hermione to go get more punch while the two argued. Ginny came over, grabbing another chocolate biscuit while she was there.

"You look like you're enjoying being back with friends," Ginny half-said half-asked.

Harry took a sip of his drink and looked around with a satisfied smile. "I am." He looked at her looking at him seriously. "I'm also looking forward to being done with school and having my friends over whenever we want to get together."

"Easy for you to say," she groused, "you have one less year left than I do."

"That just means I started a year earlier," he quipped and looked back to his still arguing friends.

She giggled for a moment before she looked at him again. "Is there anything you'd like to tell me, maybe in regards to Hermione?"

He did his best not to freeze but to raise an eyebrow at her.

"I've seen you watching her most of the evening. You always seem to know where she is." Ginny nibbled on her biscuit.

"She is my friend, one of my best friends," Harry pointed out.

"Uh-huh," Ginny had an impish look. "Word of advice for you and your friend. Wait as long as you can before you tell Ron. He's going to be jealous you have a girlfriend and he doesn't, so put it off as long as you can."

Harry studied her for a moment. "Were I to find myself in that situation, I think I'd have to agree; but what are the odds I'd find a girl who likes me as I really am?"

Ginny finished her biscuit and looked at him. "There are a few of us and I might be willing if Hermione gives you up. The problem is that you make it hard for people to get to know you. Have you ever considered that?"

He blinked several times, trying to process that. "Really?"

"Yes, you tend to keep to yourself, first. There's nothing wrong with that, a lot of people do. But, second, you have two close friends who tend to keep others away, one much more than the other of course. We Weasleys tend to be a little possessive if you haven't already noticed."

"I have," Harry agreed, "but I'd never thought about how it might affect me."

"Something for you to think about." Ginny grabbed another biscuit and walked off to join her twin brothers as they talked to Remus.

Harry considered that conversation as he watched Hermione and Ron still arguing and it looked like Hermione was about to get very aggravated, to the point she might pull her wand. Deciding to save her from being embarrassed and Ron's skin, he walked over.

"Hey!" The two looked at him. Ron scowled a little while Hermione looked grateful. "I've got a question about the homework before you go, Hermione."

Ron looked at the cup in his hand; finding it empty he said, "Back in a minute."

"Thank you," she whispered after Ron was away and the two walked further away from the house.

"No problem," he told her with an easy grin. "I didn't see a need for my best friend to hex my best mate."

"You don't know how close I came," she said with a little disgust, though it wasn't obvious if that was at herself for lack of control or at Ron - or perhaps a some of each.

"Watch out, Ginny thinks there's something between us."

"Does she have a problem with that?" Hermione sounded a little surprised at the information.

"Doesn't seem to, but she told me to wait as long as possible to tell Ron because he'd be jealous I have a girlfriend and he doesn't."

Hermione snorted lightly. "Duh. Are you going to patrol tonight after you get home?"

"Not really going home, so maybe only a short one," he said as he turned around and looked out at the paddock. "Dumbledore brought me and all my stuff over here. There's a funny story with that too."

She looked at him with wide eyes. "Then how are we to spend time together before my family leaves on Saturday? Ut-oh, Ron's coming back."

"I'll meet you in your back garden at eleven'ish," he told her as he turned around and smiled at Ron.

"What are you two talking about?" Ron asked with a frown.

"Our homework; I have mine almost done, have you done yours yet?" Harry asked cheerily to distract his friend.

— — —

The party started winding down a little after dark. Hermione left with a wink at him, heading for the house to use the Floo Network to supposedly meet her parents for a ride home. Harry pled tiredness and went up to Ron's room that he had to share. He really wished he could stay in Bill's old room, but Mrs Weasley liked this arrangement for some reason.

Ron was snoring away a little before eleven, so Harry arose from his fake sleep and dressed before grabbing his broom and flying slowly out the window, grateful they slept with the windows open.

When he was far enough away from the house that he was sure he wouldn't wake anyone, he Apparated to the Granger's back garden. He wasn't surprised to see Hermione sitting on a blanket in the semi-darkness. He just stood there and stared at her for a moment, enjoying seeing her in the moonlight.

"Are you going to come and join me or not?" she asked quietly.

He walked over and plopped down beside her. "You're very pretty in the moonlight."

She looked away bashfully for a brief moment before turning back and smiling. "Moonlight makes every girl look nicer, but thank you anyway."

Leaning over, he kissed her softly. "Nicer, which implies you were already nice."

Now she leaned over and kissed him gently. "Thank you." Studying him for a moment, she asked, "So, what happened?"

Harry shook his head a little. "Dumbledore showed up and told me the protection wards around my relatives' house were all but gone and wanted to know why. I told him because we all hated each over and it wasn't really my home, so he decided I had to go to the Weasleys for my safety. That really changes what I want to do, but I'll deal with it."

"I'm sorry," she told him. "That's probably wise as I'm afraid he'd try to stop you, so he can't know what we - you - are doing. We'll adjust somehow."

"We," he said a little forcefully. "However, it's only a change for couple of days. I'd leave right now and go to #12, but that would make them look at you more closely than either of us want, so I'll have to wait."

"I'll get my parents to leave Friday night for a hotel near the airport so you can leave then," she told him. "That will save you one night."

"Good idea," he told her with a grin. "He also took me to recruit a teacher for the coming year." He looked at her darkly. "While Dumbledore didn't outright lie, he implied the teacher was for Defense; but I found out he was a Potions teacher."

"Meaning Snape would move to Defense like he's always wanted," she finished in quiet horror.

"Yes, so I encouraged this Horace Slughorn to leave by pointing out how unsafe the school was since he was hiding from the Death Eaters and Voldemort." His expression brightened. "As hoped, he grabbed his things and left, so Snape should have to stay in Potions and I won't have to have a class with him."

"I will since I'll be taking Potions, but I think you did a good deed in keeping Snape away from Defense," she told him and he felt better about his action. "Dumbledore was manipulating you again," she said and didn't sound pleased at all.

"Yeah." Harry was startled when the back door opened and her father stood there.

"Do you plan to be out here much longer?" Dan was giving them both a penetrating look as they sat very closely on the blanket, but his gaze ended up on Harry.

"No sir," Harry answered. "I was about to tell Hermione I needed to leave anyway."

Dan nodded. "Harry, I know I can't stop you because you're not my child, but please be very careful with what you plan to do for the rest of the summer. I know you feel like you must do this, but I wished you wouldn't."

Harry was a little surprised. Her parents had been mostly neutral about his activities since the initial discussion. "Thank you for your concern, but I really do have to do this. I promise I'll be careful."

Again Dan nodded in acknowledgement; he also looked hesitant as he continued to stand there for a moment. "I thought it'd be years before I ever said this, but I'm pleased to have you dating Hermione. I like the changes I see in her, not only this summer but since I first heard about you five years ago." He looked down for a moment. "Please come in soon, honey." He closed the door to leave them.

Harry looked at his girlfriend and found her as amazed as he was. "That was unexpected."

"I'll say," she said quietly. "I've never heard him sound so positive and caring about any boy I've ever mentioned, not that there's been many."

"How many have there been?" he asked teasingly.

"Hush, you," she told him a little commandingly, which he ignored.

"I'll try to come over early in the morning, since Ron always sleeps late."

"All right, but be careful. You know his parents get up early too," she told him.

"I will." He rose and helped her up. "Then if you can get your parents to leave Friday night, I can leave Friday night too and start my work full time. I think I'll go patrol for a couple of hours before returning. I'll continue to leave my suit at #12."

She threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly. "Be very careful. And I want you to come over for a few minutes Friday before we go - just a few minutes so you should be able to sneak out."

He grinned. "You want a good-bye kiss?"

"Absolutely." She grabbed his head and kissed him deeply.

Harry didn't mind at all and returned it, pulling her close and enjoying the feel of her body pressed to his. When they broke apart, he said, "I need to leave or I may never."

"Perhaps one day," she said teasingly as she stepped back. "Go ahead. I'll get the blanket and then go to my room. I'll read for a bit before going to sleep. Be careful."

"I will." He left with a quiet crack and appeared in the foyer of #12. He walked quickly to the master's room and put his suit on. Returning to the foyer, he realized Kreacher hadn't appeared, but he wasn't too worried. Deciding to do something different, he left for Hogsmeade with a crack.

Appearing behind the Three Broomsticks, he pulled out his Invisibility Cloak and put it on before he walked to the Hogshead Pub, feeling it was the best place to search. He looked through the dingy window and closed his eyes as he pressed the button to turn on his special vision. Waiting until the small flare of light from the change was gone, he opened his eyes and looked around.

He was disappointed to find that it was hard to see people's arms from here, but the few he was able to see were clean of Dark Marks. Hearing someone scuffle, he moved to stand near the door and waited. When the person went in, he did too.

Careful not to bump into anything or anyone in the quiet pub, he walked around the room with no one being the wiser. The old bartender, who looked like he might be related to someone Harry knew but couldn't place, didn't seem to notice him either.

Near the back in a booth, Harry saw a Dark Mark on an arm under robes. Looking at the man's face, he gasped, making him glad the helmet masked his sounds. There talking to two more Death Eaters was none other than Antonin Dolohov, the one who cursed Hermione in the Department of Mysteries - who should also be locked up … yet there he sat.

Harry pondered that as he watched the three having a whispered conversation over their drinks. That meant that Malfoy would be out also and if he had to guess where the Dark Lord was hiding it would be at Malfoy's place. Then again, it would probably also be heavily secured; not the sort of place to take a stroll for fun.

The three downed the last of their drinks and then rose as one and headed to the door. Harry glanced at the clock and saw that it was approaching midnight, so perhaps they were going to a meeting. Hoping for the chance to capture them, he followed. They didn't even notice the door staying open a moment longer before it closed.

Apparently, Dolohov was the leader because he pulled out a good-sized metal ring and held it out. The other two grabbed it and Dolohov lowered his wand to activate it. Harry sprang forward and grabbed the ring too with his left hand just as the wand activated the Portkey.

Dolohov looked at the suddenly appearing metal hand as they were whisked away, but Harry didn't care. Harry stretched out his right hand out of his cloak to the Death Eater on the left and did a Banishing spell to the man's face at close range, causing blood to splatter everywhere. A quick overpowered backhand to the man on his right snapped that man's head backward.

The Portkey landed and the bodies all rolled in a heap. Harry forced himself to roll one more time so he came out on top of Dolohov. The man moved to get away as Harry punched at him, so the blow didn't smash his face like the other Death Eater, instead it broke his jaw. A quick punch from his other hand crushed the man's windpipe. Harry pushed himself up and stomped on the man's chest, breaking bones, as he whipped off his special cloak and absently stuffed it in the pouch on his left leg as he looked around and found himself outside of a house.

There was another group of three already there and they were staring at him in shock while a group of four arrived. Hoping to catch them unaware, Harry shoved both hands forward at the new group of four and sent a Cutting Curse at neck height.

Turning, he sent another double set of the same curse at the group of three as he lunged forward and kicked in the flight charms. One Death Eater managed to bring up a shield fast enough to stop the curse while the other two went down in a spray of blood. Harry slammed in the remaining Death Eater and they went down in a tumble. A fist smashing into his head and breaking multiple bones stopped that one permanently.

He turned back to check the group of four he'd cursed first and saw they were all on the ground, though three were busy putting their hands on their throats to keep the blood in; the fourth was laying still.

Another set of cracks closer to the house grabbed his attention and he saw four individuals, two of which he wanted badly. A hasty summoning spell caused the woman with the wild hair to come flying towards him as he lunged in their direction. Initiating flight, he met her half way and punched her as hard as he could, which knocked him off course. He was pleased her scream ended abruptly with his hitting her. A quick banishment with his other hand for course correction moved him back in the direction he wanted.

Unfortunately for him, his target wasn't as shocked as the others and moved. Harry corrected course as much as he could in the last second of flight he had and then reached out his left arm to hook the man. What he got was a piece of the man and bark from a large tree wider than he was.

Voldemort's right side was pinned between Harry's fast moving arm and the large tree that didn't move. Harry actually felt a little pain in his left arm - the first time in his suit - before the two fell to the ground. He ignored it and reached for the monster in front of him. He again was unlucky in that the _thing_ Disapparated away.

Harry roared in frustration in his helmet, silent to the outside, but he saw the other two had rushed to the woman. Holding up his hands to summon them, they also left too fast for him. "Damn! Damn! Damn! I was so close!"

Getting up, he looked around to make sure there were no more Death Eaters. A quick scan showed none were standing, and all were lying still on the ground except for one in the group of four that had his wand out and was trying to heal his sliced throat. Harry shot a stunning spell at him to allow the man bleed out.

Another look caused him to smile as he saw a wand that he recognized next to the tree he'd crashed into. Grabbing it, he smiled as he looked at Voldemort's wand. While putting it in the pouch with his cloak, he saw another wand nearby, Bella's he assumed. He summoned all of the wands from the Death Eaters, putting those in his pouch too.

Thinking about leaving and calling this an excellent night's work, despite his missed shot at Voldemort, he looked at the house to see if he could tell who lived here and deserved the attention of Voldemort himself. Standing in the doorway in a dressing gown and her wand pointed at him was Amelia Bones.

Holding his hands out to show he wasn't holding a wand, he walked slowly towards her and said, "Sonorus" so she'd be able to hear him. "Director Bones," he said, glad Hermione had made the helmet to disguise his voice. "I'm glad to see that I was able to keep you alive. I think you may be one of the few at the Ministry I trust."

"Who are you?" she called, her voice only wavering slightly, though her wand was steady as a rock as it pointed at him.

He stopped a good ten paces from her front porch. "I think of myself as The White Knight, but I suppose with this armor I'm The Dark Blue Knight." He was the only one to chuckle at his joke.

"While I do appreciate you protecting me and my home, why are you here?"

"I don't hold it against you personally because I know you're only following orders, but Fudge and the Ministry aren't doing anything useful about the Death Eater problem so I am," he explained.

"Vigilantes are illegal," she informed him.

"Really? In that case, I'll send an owl to old Tom and his Death Eaters to let him know that he can come back and I won't be here next time," Harry told her sarcastically. "Is this really the way you want it? If so, I'll take my statement back about thinking I like and can trust you."

Slowly, she lowered her wand. "It is against the law, yet I do appreciate you showing up here. Yes, I do recognize that is hypocritical of me. Who's Tom?"

"Tom is the birth name the self-style Dark Lord who recently visited. He's of the age that Dumbledore should have taught him, so you can ask the Headmaster." Based on her upset look, he suspected that Dumbledore was going to be asked some questions that the old man wouldn't like.

She looked at him for a moment and he let her. "You're the one that left the stack of bodies in Diagon Alley too, aren't you?"

"Yes; the one survived, didn't he?"

Bones nodded and said, "Yes, the only one without a Dark Mark. I can appreciate what you're doing even if you're not supposed to be." She studied him a moment more. "Why did you take their wands and money bags? That is against the law too."

"The wands are proof that I defeated them; I'll send them all to you when I'm done. As for the money, waging war isn't free. I have to take time off of work," he lied to make her think he was older, "so why not let the Death Eaters pay for my efforts."

Cracks sounded behind him and Harry turned - ready for battle - to find a squad of eight Aurors at the street who started running towards them. "Drop your wand and stay where you are!" one yelled.

Harry turned back to Bones. "Will you please tell them to stop so I don't have to hurt them when I leave?"

"You're not going anywhere," one Auror snarled who must have heard what he said as he ran up.

"Hold!" Bones called. The Aurors recognized her and didn't fire, though they did fan out around Harry and a couple were doing some sort of spell while pointing their wand at the ground.

"Since you have normal help to keep you safe, I'll take my leave. However, I would suggest you to move to a safer and undisclosed location," Harry told her.

"I said you're not going anywhere and we have questions for you, a lot of questions," the lead Auror said.

"I don't have any answers for you, but if you talk to her, I'm sure she can fill you in." Turning back to Bones he said, "By the way, I have _**his**_ wand, so you might want to protect Ollivander or tell him to go into hiding. Oh, and I'm fairly sure one of those over there is supposed to be in Azkaban, so you might want to check the prison for other escapees. I think you'll find you're missing some.

"I'd also suggest that you might consider a surprise inspection for all of the Aurors at once to make sure none of them are Death Eaters because I suspect the escapees had help getting out. Hopefully, you won't find any but I suspect you will."

"There better not be Death Eaters in the Auror Corp," she said adamantly.

"Still, as someone we both knows says: Constant Vigilance." He chuckled wryly and saw her smile ever so slightly.

"I wished I could hire you, but I'd be sacked if I tried," she said with frustration. "Aurors, leave him alone," she commanded.

"I appreciate the trust. Ta-ta for now." A quick jump and pointing both feet and the same time caused him to rocket upwards. He heard shouting below him but he didn't stop as he turned and flew to a deserted spot not far away before Apparating to #12.

Harry had to clean the blood off of his suit and his cloak. He also added the newly captured wands to the box of those he was collecting from the Death Eaters. He also stretched his left arm and was not happy to see that he didn't have full mobility. He'd deal with that tomorrow.

As he took the suit off, Kreacher popped in. "Does master require anything?"

"No. How are things going here?"

"Kreacher keeps busy. Kreacher watched filthy group try to break in." The old elf smiled. "They are failing badly and Kreacher helps with that."

"Good work then, keep it up. The Black house is only for me and any I designate," Harry told him as he checked his clothes to make sure he looked right in case any Weasleys were up. He set the left arm of his suit aside and pointed to it. "I'm going to call for you tomorrow morning. When I do, please bring this to me."

"Yes, Master."

Grabbing his broom, he left and returned to the Paddock. A few minutes later he was stripping off his clothes and dropping wearily onto his cot in Ron's room with no one appearing to be the wiser about his adventure tonight.

Part of him was pissed off for missing Voldemort and giving away the surprise to Riddle, but on the other hand, it looked like Sirius was probably avenged. He would like to know the final outcome for Bella, but that would have to wait.

As for Bones' verbal vote of confidence, that was a stroke of good luck and removed some of his guilt about what he was doing. He did his best to smother the remaining guilt. He found it interesting that the Dursleys had inadvertently helped him be able to do that; he suspected it might be the only good thing he'd gained living with them.

* * *

(A/N: Sorry, but reactions to his work come next chapter. :)


	7. Chapter 7

(A/N: Here's the longest chapter of the story. :-)

* * *

 **Chapter 7**

Early the next morning, Harry snuck out of the house again and went to Hermione's. "Kreacher?" he called softly. The elf popped in with the arm from his suit and then left. Harry knocked quietly on the back door and Hermione appeared in the kitchen and hurried over to let him in.

"What happened?" she asked as she looked him over. "Are you all right? Why do you have part of your suit like this?"

He smiled at her and her rapid-fire questions. "I'm fine, but can we sit? I'm still pretty tired from last night."

Hermione guided him to the little table in the kitchen before she started tea for them. "If you're not hurt, why do you have that arm with you?"

"Last night I went to the Hogshead Pub." She scowled at him but didn't say anything, so he continued. "There, I found Dolohov and a couple of friends."

Her head whipped around and looked at him intently, a bit of a scared look on her face.

"I had my cloak on so they couldn't see me. When they went outside, I followed. When they pulled out a Portkey I grabbed on too."

"Harry James Potter!" she hissed loudly. "Do you know how dangerous that is? They could have taken you anywhere."

"It was actually a good thing though because they were going to kill Amelia Bones."

Hermione gasped. "She's the leading candidate to replace Fudge."

"Yeah, and I mostly trust her too. So I took out Dolohov and his friends as well as some others. Just as I did that, Voldemort and three more Death Eaters arrived."

Hermione slapped her hand over her mouth and she looked scared again.

"I summoned Bella to me," Harry paused as Hermione gasped again, "and hit her hard enough in the head that I had to clean my glove and she didn't move when she went down. Then I flew at Voldemort and almost hit him straight on, but he moved at the last second. I did catch his arm between my arm and a large tree as I flew into him. Unfortunately, he left and the last two grabbed Bella and left also, so I didn't get any more of them. When I got back home, I found my left arm wouldn't fully flex at the elbow anymore and I was hoping you could fix it."

The whistle for the kettle went off, so Hermione turned to take care of that and made tea for both of them. She sat at the table with the tea, placing Harry's in front of him; she didn't look like she knew what to say, which was highly unusual for her.

"I'm a little upset with myself for missing him, but I think I've avenged Sirius."

After a moment, Hermione put her hand on his and squeezed it hard. "I'm just glad you weren't hurt."

"Thanks to you," he told her with a caring smile. "The suit worked like you said it would. You're really brilliant."

She looked down for a moment and sipped her tea. "I'll take a look at it and see what I can do." She squeezed his hand again. "Harry, are you sure you want to keep doing this? I really don't want you to get hurt."

He realized she was having second thoughts as it all became more real, but he knew he had to do this. "Hey, I'll be all right because of your great idea and hard work." He squeezed her hand. "I've got one more bit of good news. I talked with Bones after the fight and while she told me what I was doing was against the law, she condoned my action and told the Aurors there to leave me alone. That makes me feel better about doing this."

Both of her eyebrows rose in surprise. "That's … really unexpected, but good to hear."

"I better go before I'm missed. I'll try to come back tonight around eleven or so." He drank about half of his tea to hold him until breakfast.

Hermione stood with him and hugged him tightly. "Try and take a nap, Harry." She kissed him thoroughly before letting him go.

Harry left with a grin on his face from her good-bye. He Apparated back to the paddock and walked up to the house.

Inside, he found Mrs Weasley in the kitchen making breakfast. He didn't see Mr Weasley, so he looked at the clock and saw his hand pointing at work. He was glad they didn't have a hand on the clock for him right now.

"Oh, Harry, you surprised me. Did you just come down?" She grabbed a plate and handed it to him not waiting for an answer. "Grab whatever you want as Ron and Ginny won't be down for a bit I'd think."

"Thanks," he told her as he dished out some eggs onto his plate before grabbing some bacon. The beans and toast looked good too; he was really hungry from his night's work.

"You are up early," she prompted, apparently not forgetting her question from a moment ago.

"Had trouble sleeping so I got up and tried to stay quiet," he told her. "I might go lie back down after eating, or maybe I'll take a kip later."

"I'm sorry, dear. Is there anything I could do to help?" she asked.

Harry couldn't help himself. "Let me put a silencing charm on Ron tonight so I don't have to listen to him snore?"

She chuckled and waved her hand at him to dismiss his joke. "Oh you. Yes, he can do that sometimes. If he gets too bad, you're welcome to come down and sleep on the couch. It's actually pretty comfortable, or so Arthur has told me a time or two."

He almost dropped his fork. "You make him sleep on the couch sometimes?" He was surprised at her mischievous look.

"Once or twice in 35 years. There's more food if you want it." She returned to the kitchen, leaving Harry to shake his head.

After he put his dishes in the sink, he did return to Ron's room and lay back down. He slept for nearly an hour and a half and it helped a lot.

— — —

That evening after dinner, they had to leave the living room because an Order meeting was going to be held there. After her mother had shooed them all upstairs and charmed the stairs to make a noise if they tried to come down, Ginny pulled them into her room.

"What are we in here for?" Ron asked.

"Close the door Harry," she told him. "We're in here to listen to the meeting, if you can keep quiet about it." Both Ron and Harry grinned.

"How do we do that?" her brother asked.

"It seems like you've forgotten," she said disparagingly as she dug in a dresser drawer, "that the living room is right under my room. So with an Extendable Ear, it's very easy to listen in as no one expects a listener to be eavesdropping from above. Still, they could hear us if we make a noise because there is a small hole in the ceiling, so no more talking until I tell you."

Harry realized how sneaky and like the twins she was as he nodded along with Ron.

Ginny lifted a floorboard and dropped an Ear down and placed it where she wanted. Then she handed an Extendable Ear to each. She put the small end of the one in her hand in her ear while she put the ear part next to the small end of the Ear that went down. The boys did the same so there were three ears listening to one that went below, like an extender.

They made themselves comfortable and eventually the Order meeting started. Harry thought the first part was boring as they received reports from some of the members, most saying they knew nothing of importance but taking a long time to say that. However, Kingsley Shacklebolt changed that.

"Kingsley?" Dumbledore called out.

"There seems to be a new player in the war," the Auror said, causing everyone to go instantly quiet. "The Ministry is keeping it quiet, but two nights ago someone put the bodies of three Death Eaters and an unconscious man near the Apparition point in Diagon Alley. We think it was done at about midnight." There were many gasps below while the three teen looked at each other with wide eyes, though Harry's was faked.

"They were killed?" Molly Weasley asked, sounding horrified.

"So two Death Eaters and one that wasn't?" Dumbledore asked. "Then it wasn't for revenge," he said thoughtfully.

"At first," Kingsley continued, "we thought it was simple robbery as the two corpses with the Dark Mark didn't have their money bags nor wands. However, the one that was merely unconscious and did _not_ have a Dark Mark still had his money bag and his wand. He also had no memory of being attacked."

"His memory was modified?" Dumbledore asked.

"Possibly, but I suspect that he was stunned from behind and just never saw anything. Later the next day, we also found a fourth corpse with a Dark Mark, or what was left of it, in Knockturn Alley. Again, no money or wand."

"Why was it different?" someone asked.

Kingsley cleared his throat and hesitated a little more. "Because a hag got to it, it was pretty obvious based on the condition of the body."

"She … she harvested it?" some female asked in an aghast tone.

Harry felt a little sick and he didn't have to feign that. He noticed the other two looked a little pale too. He'd heard that hags took parts of corpses for dark purposes, but he'd hoped those stories weren't true. Since they were true after all, he'd stun the hag next time he ran into her.

"Yes. And there's more." Kingsley went silent again.

"What is it?" Dumbledore prompted.

"Last night, You-Know-Who tried to kill Amelia Bones…"

"I'm glad she escaped," said the voice of Arthur Weasley.

"Actually, she didn't escape; she was rescued by someone who calls himself the White Knight. He appeared when the Death Eaters did and fought them. He also fought You-Know-Who when he appeared and drove him away. The Aurors recovered ten Death Eater bodies from her front garden. He also claimed that he did the work in Diagon Alley."

"A vendetta then," Dumbledore said wearily. "I do not agree with what he's doing."

That simple statement prompted loud discussion for several minutes with a few very vocal people agreeing with the Knight's actions while a few also very vocal argued it was wrong; the others stayed silent. Eventually, someone did something non-verbal, like shoot a lot of sparks off, and the arguing died off.

"Why didn't the Aurors catch him?" someone asked into the new silence.

"If you can believe it, I'm told he was in a knight's armor and he literally flew away - straight up," Shacklebolt explained.

Harry looked at the other two and gave them an expression of admiration while they give him a look of surprise.

"There's rumor that the Director gave him her support," the voice of Tonks added, "or so I've heard".

"Why would she?" yet another person asked.

"To give him some support so the Aurors will leave him alone and he can continue what he's doing. I like it," Moody said.

"Alastor, he's killing people," Dumbledore said, sounding disappointed.

"People who are supposed to be in Azkaban," Kingsley said quickly. "Dolohov was one of those found and when Azkaban was checked, the others captured in June were also gone. Bones is very pissed off about it and those in charge of the prisoners are feeling her wrath."

"Unfortunate yet very interesting," Dumbledore commented.

"I can add to it," they heard Snape say. "I was called to Him late last night. This knight as you call him apparently killed Bellatrix Lastrange-"

"Good for him," they heard Remus Lupin interrupt and guessed he probably received a glare from Snape before the man continued.

"As I was saying, Bellatrix was dead from a blow to the head and the Dark Lord had a crushed arm plus an injured shoulder and ribs. I had to spend several hours healing him, including having to vanish all the bones in his wand arm and regrow them. In addition, he lost his wand. He is most upset," Snape finished.

"Good," someone said.

"You do not understand then," Snape replied with a hint of heat in his voice and also enunciating all of his words very clearly. "That means he will want revenge and he will take it out on others, most of them innocent. I would advise increasing all protections.

"I was questioned about this person, if he was from this group, but I had nothing to tell.

"When he was healed, he called all of his followers and besides those lost last night, more did not show up, courtesy of this knight it was presumed. That set him off in another fit of anger. I believe this has surprised him to such an extent he's not sure what to do.

"Also, a few were sent to find Ollivander and his shop was closed with a sign that said he was away and could be found at the Ministry the last week of August. The Dark Lord was upset with this as well as he had to borrow a wand," Snape told them.

"Some excellent work by the Knight then," Moody said warmly just barely loud enough for the extendable ear to pick up.

"Thank you, Severus. Are there any other reports?" Dumbledore asked.

"I can confirm that Ollivander's shop is closed," Bill Weasley said.

"Good to know. Is there anything else?" Dumbledore paused. "Then have a good evening and we shall meet next week. Be sure to let me know if you see anyone that you believe is under the Imperious Curse."

Harry sat back and pulled the magical device from his ear; he was thinking about the little bit that he'd learned. He also knew he'd have to continue faking some surprise.

"We can talk now," Ginny said with a solid floor again and held out her hand to collect the Extendable Ears.

"Can you believe it?" Ron exclaimed. "Someone is going after the Death Eaters."

"Successfully too, I'm impressed," Harry added.

"I'm happy," Ginny said with a smile. "I'm only sorry Tom didn't get hurt worse."

Harry snorted, "Yeah, so am I." He smiled brightly. "Bella is gone so that means Sirius was avenged." The other two agreed and were happy for him.

They talked for a while longer until there was a knock on the door. Ginny opened it and they were surprised to see her mother. Harry was even more surprised when the woman said, "Harry? Professor McGonagall would like to talk to you for a moment about the upcoming school year."

"Err, sure," he said and stood. He strongly hoped his secret wasn't about to be ousted because he thought the Professor knew enough to know it was him doing this.

Most of the adults were gone, including Dumbledore, but McGonagall was standing by the door waiting patiently. "You asked to see me, Professor?"

"Yes, Potter. Let's walk outside for a moment." She held the door open for him and then walked slowly beside him through the back garden towards the paddock.

"Miss Bell has told me that she'd prefer not to be the Quidditch captain this year. Would you like the position?" McGonagall was looking very neutral. "If you weren't aware, it's much like a Prefect as it holds the same privileges as far as curfew times not applying and you can use the Prefect bathroom."

"Uh, sure, Professor, that'd be great." His relief was short lived.

"Very good." She stopped walking and looked around before looking him directly in the face. In a quiet voice she asked, "Do you believe that your extra activities are truly advised? You were lucky but you're playing a very dangerous game."

"I understand that, Professor. If you think back to my adventure this last June, you'll know I have to." He wondered if she would tell Dumbledore or not; it was obvious that had not happened yet.

McGonagall sighed. "I do not wish to lose you as I did your parents. You are turning into a fine young wizard."

"I don't plan on anything happening to me." What else could he say? "Thank you for your concern and discretion. I'll be as careful as possible."

After a long look, she finally nodded. "You have had amazing sheer dumb luck since your first year, at least when it really counted; I hope it continues to hold. I'll send your badge to you; I do hope you get to use it." With that, she turned slightly and walked to the edge of the Wards before Apparating away.

Walking back inside, Ron accosted him while Ginny stood nearby. "What did she want?"

"I'm to be the new Quidditch captain," he announced and saw his two friends light up.

— — —

It was nearing half-eleven before Harry felt he could leave. Ron didn't seem to want to sleep but talk about Harry being the Quidditch captain. Harry left the same way as he did last night.

He found Hermione on a blanket in her back garden again, along with the armor he'd left with her and a box. "Hey," he told her before he kissed her soundly.

"I missed you too," she told him with a grin. "What has you in such a good mood?"

"Two things," he replied. "First, I found out tonight that I'm to be the Quidditch captain."

Hermione dropped her head. "Oh Merlin, I may never see you again."

"Ha-ha," he said slowly and sarcastically. He also saw her look up with a bright smile. "Oh I see, having me on, aren't you?"

"A little," she smirked. "What's your other news?"

"I got lucky. Bella didn't survive, or so Snape said at the Order meeting."

"And you're all right about that?" she asked, sounding unsure.

"I'm fine with that. She killed Sirius and she's hurt a lot of other people, including Neville's parents," he reminded her. "She won't be able to hurt anyone ever again."

"True," she agreed. "Still, let's talk about something else." Hermione reached around to her other side and pulled the armor so it was in front of both of them. "I made an adjustment that helps a little, but to truly fix it I'd have to take most of the runes off, adjust it, and then put them back on. I'm surprised, but you actually bent the metal. Mr Burns helped me figure it out today."

"If I left it with you for one more day, could you fix it?" he wondered. "I think I'm going to skip tonight since I'll be starting full time tomorrow night."

Hermione worried her lower lip for a moment as she thought it through. "Probably, I can try. If I start tonight then I definitely can. That brings me to the other thing I have for you."

She pulled the box around so it was next to the armor. Opening it, she dug around in it and pulled out a phial. "If I'm to be up all night, I'll keep this Pepperup Potion; there's two more in there. I got all of the healing ones I could; there's even a small single dose of Skel-grow. I also added a surprise that could help you, but I didn't have time to do anything with it."

He looked in the good sized box to see dozens of potions, each with a label. "Thanks, Hermione. Hopefully I won't need any of these; but it's good to have them anyway."

"Since you're not going patrolling, perhaps we could have a little boyfriend/girlfriend time?" she asked coyly, grabbing his shirt when he nodded and pulling him over so they lay next to each other. Then she proceeded to kiss him for some time.

Eventually, they heard a window open from above and a throat clearing. "Hermione Jane?" her mother called from above, causing the two teens to spring apart. "I think it's time to tell him good-night."

"Yes, Mum," Hermione answered dutifully before the window closed.

Harry chuckled. "It's kind of funny if you think about it."

"I really don't see that," she told him a little crossly as she sat up.

"It's what we should be getting in trouble for as teens, not for doing our extra activities, as McGonagall called them," he said.

"McGonagall?" she asked with a little fear. "What did she say?"

"Sorry, I forgot," he said and sounded sorry. "She pulled me outside for a private conversation after their meeting. After asking me about Quidditch, she asked if I was sure I wanted to do this as it was dangerous. I pointed out that our adventure last June said I did need to do this. I thanked her for her discretion and she agreed, so we're good for now." He stood up as Hermione did.

"Be careful with the Order, Harry. And be careful in general. I'll have this ready for you tomorrow evening. Be here around five if you can. We're leaving at eight so you have to be here before then," she told him pointedly, her stare demanding a promise.

"Right, I'll be here, and you're still pretty in the moonlight." He kissed her quickly before grabbing his box and Apparating to #12. He gave the box to Kreacher to put in his bedroom before he returned to the Weasleys for the night.

~~~IronWizard~~~

The next morning Harry saw the attack on Amelia Bones was in the _Daily Prophet_. Her survival was attributed to "an unnamed rescuer". The three teens shared knowing looks about that but said nothing as they were afraid Mrs Weasley might hear.

He also received an owl from McGonagall that contained his Quidditch captain's badge. Ron still seemed more excited about it than Harry felt.

That afternoon as it neared five, Harry was having a difficult time getting away to meet Hermione. It seemed either Ron or Ginny was always around him. Getting desperate, he hurried away from Ron by running up the stairs and snagged his Invisibility Cloak; he wound it as flat as he could around his stomach and then pulled his shirt down just before Ron came into the room. Trying to think fast, he grabbed a small book he'd left next to his bed.

"What's up, mate? Why did you run away?"

"Wanted to get the book I've been reading. I need some quiet time so I think I'll go out by the pond to read until it's time for dinner," Harry told him as he walked back out of the room.

"Let me get my Quidditch magazine and I'll join you," Ron told him.

There was so little privacy here, Harry determined, especially when he desperately needed some. He hurried down the stairs and ran passed Ginny, who was in the kitchen talking to her mother, and out the back door. Racing around the house to be out of sight from the kitchen windows, he pulled out his Invisibility Cloak and put it on as he continued to the paddock. He thought he might have heard Ron calling for him just as he reached the edge of the wards and Apparated away. He was sure he'd pay for that later.

"Harry?" Hermione called pulling her wand out and looking around.

He dropped the hood of his cloak. "Yeah, it's me." He continued taking the cloak off. "I'm sorry, but I don't have long. I couldn't get a moment's privacy there and Fred and George are about to come over too, ensuring I'd never get away."

Hermione smirked and then chuckled. "Poor Harry."

"So, besides my telling you good-bye for a few weeks, what's up?" He looked at her more closely and thought he saw bags under her eyes. "Are you all right?" He laid his book on the table next to the arm so he wouldn't forget it later.

She waved him over and they sat on the bench she'd been on. "Nothing special, I'm just really tired. I'll sleep well tonight." At his intent look, she added, "I was up all night and most of the day working on your suit's arm. It was hard, but I managed to remove the hardening rune on the four pieces that needed adjusting, then I took it to Mr Burns for him to work on for a few minutes. He says it's almost like it should be, but he can't make the arm 100 percent right without redoing the pieces or a lot of careful work he didn't have time to do today."

"Err, why not?" He was confused. "Can't it just be bent back?"

"No," she shook her head too. "He said that once metal is bent you can't ever just simply bend it back into its original shape. You can get close but there are always little creases or bends at best. Still, he managed to remove most of the damage and I put the runes back on. You need to be careful with that arm now and don't do something that violent again … with either arm." She glared at him a little.

He nodded, "I understand and I'll be careful with it … I promise."

She looked at him for a moment as if weighing what he said and then nodded. "You need to come inside to tell my parents good-bye and then I need to tell you one more thing before you go."

"All right." He followed her into the house to spend a few minutes with her parents.

"You'll be very careful?" Emma asked as she surprised him by giving him a hug.

"I will, I promise," he told her solemnly. "I hope you have a good time."

Dan just shook his hand and patted him on the shoulder. "I understand doing something because you feel it's the right thing to do, but I'll also ask you to be careful. I've enjoyed having you around."

"Thank you and I will." Harry pulled a sealed envelope out of his pocket and handed it to the man. "I'd appreciate it if you'd hold onto this for me. You shouldn't need it, but just in case."

Dan took it but didn't ask what it was, yet he seemed to understand it was Harry's last Will. Emma looked a little upset as did Hermione.

Hermione grabbed his hand and led him out into the back garden to a tree almost as large as the one he smashed Voldemort into. She pulled him to the back side and then leaned against it; they were completely hidden from the house.

As Harry stepped forward a half-step anticipating a kiss, she grabbed his wrists in her hands and pulled them up. Even more surprising, she placed his hands right on her breasts, which he couldn't help but notice fit his hands perfectly.

Staring right into his eyes and holding his gaze, she asked in her most serious voice yet. "Harry, do you like this? Do you want to do this again?"

Almost afraid this was a trick question yet desperately wanting to say yes, he nodded slowly.

"Then you have to keep yourself safe and survive." Her eyes narrowed. "No stupid risks, Harry. If you have any doubt about a situation, let it pass. I want you to be able to do this and more but we can't if you get yourself killed. Do you understand me?"

He nodded again, unable to look away from her intense eyes, yet also trying to concentrate on what his hands felt.

She pulled his hands down to her waist and put her arms around him and kissed him soundly for several minutes. When they pulled apart finally, she leaned her forehead on his shoulder.

"You can't write me while I'm gone," she told him. "I'll watch the newspapers for news about you, but I can't write you either unfortunately."

"I know. I don't like it either, but I do need you safe with no one able to find you," he told her.

"Harry," she looked back up at him, "you stay safe and I'll let you hold them again. If you make good grades too, I'll do something else as a reward; I'm not sure what, but I'll think of something."

"Maybe we could do our homework together in the Room of Requirement with you in a T-shirt like now but no bra?" he asked hopefully.

She smiled at him. "I think that could be arranged for some Outstanding work."

He kissed her again, not really able to help it and she very willingly returned it. "I don't want to go, but I need to."

"Be careful, Harry," she paused for a moment. "I love you. Be safe!" She kissed him quickly and then pushed him slightly to disengage before she ran for the house, the door slamming behind her.

Harry took a few deep breaths to collect himself. He walked to the table on the back porch and picked up his armored arm and his book. He looked at the house for a moment and wondered if what he felt for her was love or not. He thought it might be but wasn't sure yet.

He Apparated to #12 and left the armor. Donning his cloak, he Apparated to the other side of the house he'd left from. Seeing no one, he pulled his cloak off and wrapped it around his stomach under his shirt again.

Carefully, he made his way back to the house. He saw Ron in the air on his broom searching. Slipping inside, he managed to make it up to Ron's room and put his cloak away. The risky part done, he walked back down and Ginny caught him on the stairs.

"Thought I heard someone coming up. Ron's looking for you." She grinned, "He says you ditched him."

"Kind of did," Harry admitted, surprising her based on her expression. "I needed a few minutes alone and he wouldn't leave me."

Ginny giggled. "I used to do that to him and he hated it." She shrugged and walked back into her room.

Harry took a seat in the living room and opened the book he'd been carrying; it was on Defense and mildly interesting. Well, as of tomorrow he'd have the entire Black library to look through and find something really interesting to read.

"Mum! I can't find Harry!" Ron shouted as he came in the back door and headed for the kitchen, not even looking in the living room.

"He probably just wanted a little time alone," his mother told him, causing Harry to smile. "It's not like he can go anywhere." Harry almost laughed at that but managed to keep it to a smile.

"Why?" Ron sounded genuinely confused.

"Did you ever want time away from Ginny when she followed you everywhere?"

"Well, yeah, but that was different," Ron protested.

Harry heard no reply and assumed she gave her son some sort of mothering look because he came back out and headed for outside, but he saw Harry at the last moment. "There you are. Where did you go?"

"I just needed some quiet time without talking or having to listen to anyone, Ron; it's easier to think that way." Harry saw his friend was still confused and suspected it was a difference between growing up in a large family and growing up mostly like an only child, or that's how he felt about his childhood.

In the end, he got away with his trip without too much hassle. The twins arrived a few minutes later and it was all forgotten.

— — —

Ron was snoring, so Harry arose and got dressed before he quietly gathered the few things he'd pulled out and put them back in his trunk. Searching for and finding a quill and parchment, he left a short note on his bed. Shrinking his trunk made carrying it much easier as he mounted his broom and squeezed out of the window again.

Harry took a few minutes to fly in the paddock one last time. He wouldn't get to do this again until he returned to school. Knowing he'd taken enough time and needed to get to his task, he set down and Apparated to #12.

"Kreacher!" he called and the elf popped in. "I need a small meal in about ten minutes. I'll also need something like dinner a little before the time the sun rises."

"Yes, Master."

Harry put his trunk in the master bedroom and put his armor on, except for the helmet and two gloves, and went downstairs.

After eating, he put the rest of his suit on and went to Hogsmeade and waited around the pub again. When that didn't pan out, he went to Diagon Alley, which turned up empty. As the sun rose, he went home to have dinner and head to bed. He supposed he wouldn't get Death Eaters every night. He'd continue to patrol at nights for a while and sleep during the day.

A small part of him would have loved to be at the Weasley's when his note was found to watch the spectacle. He was sure Dumbledore wouldn't be pleased and thought it would be a fun joke on the man for what he'd put Harry through. That reminded him about the joke he'd pulled with Slughorn, which caused him to smile and almost chuckle out loud.

~~~IronWizard~~~

Ginny walked into the kitchen a little blurry-eyed, grabbed a glass of juice, and drank it to try to wake up a little.

"Ginny, dear, please go wake your brother and Harry; neither have come down yet," her mother told her.

"Yes, Mum," she said sleepily before finishing her juice and setting the glass at her normal place at the table.

Trudging upstairs, she saw Ron's door was open slightly so she banged on it with her fist as she poked her head in. "Ron, Harry, Mum says get up."

Ron groaned. Figuring that was good enough for him, she opened the door a little wider so she could see Harry's cot since she hadn't heard a noise from him. She gasped when she saw his bed was empty and made as well as his trunk was gone. "Ron! Where is Harry?!" she shouted, causing Ron to jerk awake and fall out of bed as he flailed around.

Her sleepy eyes spied the note finally so she hurried over.

"Wha' ya do tha' for?" Ron slurred sleepily.

"Harry left!" she waved the note before hurrying out of the room. "Mum!" she yelled as she ran down the stairs by twos.

"Ginny! Behave," her mother admonished her. "This old house doesn't need you jumping down the stairs."

"Harry's gone!" Ginny thrust the note forward.

Molly took it and read out loud softly.

 _All,_

 _Sorry to leave like this, but Dumbledore bringing me over was a surprise. I had planned to come over at the end of the summer as usual though. In the meantime, I've arranged some lessons that I need to attend. If you want to know what the lessons are for, ask Dumbledore; he's known about this need for the last 15 years, though he kept it secret from me until this last June. Don't worry about me, I'll be safe and well cared for by my teacher. I'll see you on the 31st or on the train, whichever works out better._

 _Regards,_  
 _Harry_

"Oh my word, I better find Albus!" Molly hurried to the fireplace to make a Floo call. Albus wasn't in but she found his deputy.

"Minerva," Molly thrust the note at the professor as soon as she arrived after a cry of "Emergency" to get her to come.

McGonagall sighed as she finished reading the note. "I'll track down Albus, but I suspect there's not much we can do until Harry returns."

"What do you mean? We have to search for him," Molly insisted.

"I doubt you'll find him," McGonagall replied while looking thoughtful. "I wouldn't know where to begin looking."

"Professor?" Ginny spoke up. "What did it mean about the secret? Is that about the prophecy?" She ignored her mother's glare.

"I believe so," the professor replied. "I'm only aware of it generally, but I suspect Mr Potter is trying to train to take on Voldemort, although I'm not sure who is teacher would be."

"He can't do that, he's far too young," Molly protested.

"That may be, but prophecies don't care about age like you do," McGonagall commented. "If you don't mind, I'll take the note to show Albus when he returns in a few hours."

When Minerva was by herself at the school, she put a note on Albus's desk asking him to come see her as soon as he returned. "Potter, I really do hope you know what you're doing," she said to no one in particular.

— — —

Albus sat down heavily at his desk after his investigations. Neither Ronald nor Ginevra had any idea that Harry would be doing this. Miss Granger wasn't home and it appeared she and her family would be gone for some time if he read the little clues correctly. He still had no access to Sirius's house. He'd also tried an owl but the bird wouldn't take the note, indicating it couldn't find Harry.

He wasn't sure if he should take the teacher part seriously or if that was misdirection and Harry had simply left to live in Sirius's house. Either way, he was quite upset with the boy.

Suddenly, he had an idea and sent a message to an old friend.

Several hours later he had a visitor, "Alastor."

"Dumbledore," Mad-Eye Moody returned. "I'd have to watch for a longer period of time, but I think he's there. I Disillusioned myself and flew my broom up to look in the windows. The wards affect my eye so my vision wasn't as clear as usual, but it looks like there's a body on the bed. Of course, there also looks to be a body standing in the corner, but that's probably a mannequin that old Walburga used for her dress robes.

"So, why did he run away?" asked Moody.

"He said to train," Dumbledore sighed. "This is one of the reasons I didn't tell him about the prophecy sooner."

"Or maybe," Moody suggested, "you should have told him when he was too young to run away and then spent time training him yourself so he'd think of you like a mentor instead of a meddling old man." At Dumbledore's surprised look, he add, "Oh, I've heard the rumors about what he put up with at those relatives of his and about what's happened here at the school. You didn't do yourself any favors, you know."

"It seemed like the best course at the time." Dumbledore leaned back in his chair, wondering what he could do.

"Leave him be," Moody answered the unasked question as he rose. "If he wants to brood over his godfather in that old house, let him. Eventually, he'll get lonely or else school will start. Have someone there at the end of the month.

"Oh, and don't try to use your bird to get to him. I did look at the wards on the house; they've changed and I don't think you'd like that trip. I know I wouldn't try it."

"I was afraid of that. Thank you for your help, Alastor." Albus watched his friend leave. "I need to know he's safe, but how?"

~~~IronWizard~~~

Diagon Alley had not provided any Death Eaters tonight, so Harry went the Hogshead pub in Hogsmeade. Careful search showed one man with a Dark Mark talking to an unmarked friend. He waited outside near the door under his Invisibility Cloak with a predatory grin.

While he waited, he considered the question of just how many Death Eaters there might be. Well, Voldemort pandered to the Purebloods, generally, so that should limit the number of people somewhat. He was sure there wouldn't be any Muggle-borns and he thought the number of Half-bloods would be very small. Hmm, every Pureblood family could probably only contribute two members per generation at the most, so the real question was how many Pureblood families were there? No, the question was how many "dark" families there were because not all Pureblood families would support Voldemort, some were good and some were neutral. There couldn't be all that many, could there?

A couple of men walked out but they weren't the ones he was waiting for.

He supposed Voldemort might hire people, mercenaries he thought they were called. Would he do that? Or maybe he could try to attract new recruits from other countries, he considered as he remembered Igor Karkaroff - who wasn't British. But he was the only one he could remember, so perhaps he was an exception like the Half-bloods were. Still, there might be a few of those.

Maybe there weren't that many Death Eaters then, at least as long as the "old rules" were still being used?

Another two men walked out and the one he wanted was there. Harry walked up behind them with quick but short steps to avoid tripping on his cloak. The men weren't touching nor were they talking, so Harry just grabbed the Death Eater's arm and Apparated away to the cave Sirius had stayed in a few years ago. The second he landed he pulsed a Stunning spell from both hands and the man went limp.

Harry put the man down and searched him. A money bag and wand were all that he found to keep. Pulling out his own wand, Harry bound him tightly and revived him. Wishing he didn't have to do this but feeling he had no choice, he cast " _Imperio_ " as the man blinked awake. The fight for dominance wasn't even all that hard, creating more guilty thoughts which he did his best to ignore. "Where is your Dark Lord staying?"

"Malfoy Manor."

Crap, that's going to be hard to get into, Harry thought. "What is the largest number of Death Eaters you've ever seen in one place?"

"About fifty."

That's about the upper end of what I was expecting, Harry thought. "Where are places the Death Eaters like to hang out together?"

"Our houses, Hogshead pub, Poison Quill pub."

"The Poison Quill pub is the one in Knockturn Alley?" asked Harry.

"Yes."

Not sure what else to ask that would actually help him, he placed his hand on the man's neck and cast a Cutting curse.

As he waited for him to bleed out and did his best not to think about it, Harry considered his options. While he had told Hermione he could go after them by going to their houses, he knew that would be both hard and dangerous; so realistically, that was probably out. He'd have to monitor the pubs for now.

He supposed he could monitor the two areas, and even the Ministry, during the day; but if he found a Death Eater, how would he take care of him and get away? He'd have to ignore that idea unless he got desperate or came up with a great idea.

With the man dead, Harry vanished the ropes, grabbed his arm and Apparated to Diagon Alley. He dropped the "trash" at the edge of the Apparation area and left, not believing there was much else to do this evening as it was after two in the morning.

As he stripped off his suit, he looked at his newest wand and dropped it in the box of his conquests. He counted 14, which didn't include Riddle's. So there were about 35 more unless more were recruited in the future. That took him back to the question of how many dark families there were. How could he know?

"Kreacher!"

The elf popped in. "Master," said the elf, not sounding pleased to be there.

"Kreacher, how many dark families do you think there are? Families that would support the Dark Lord?" Harry watched the elf become surprised and then thoughtful as if counting.

"About twenty," the elf finally replied. "The Blacks used to be one. Even my best master used to be."

"Twenty isn't that many." Harry looked at the elf thinking this through. "Kreacher, when you say twenty, do you mean twenty households of parents and children, or twenty houses like Black and Malfoy and so forth?"

"Twenty houses."

"Kreacher, do you know about how many Death Eaters there are now?"

"No, Master."

"Do you know how many there were when your Master Regulas was one?" Harry held his breath and hoped, while also wondering why he'd never asked this before.

"There were around thirty when Master was killed."

"Thank you, Kreacher. I'll have dinner at six; you may go until then." Harry dropped into a chair to think.

If there were only about thirty then but around fifty this time around, there had been some recruiting, but not really all that much in terms of raw numbers, and he had killed the equivalent of the new ones, or almost. So if there were only about thirty or so more to go, this was doable. He could also hope that with Death Eaters disappearing, it might influence some not to join.

Well, he had about three weeks to work on that.

Thinking some more, he considered that their real power was in their secrecy, else how could such a small number of people terrorize an entire country. They were mostly normal in everyday life, but terrorized people secretly behind their masks. He smiled as he stood to go take off his suit before relaxing. He would play the game of secret attacks too.

— — —

As Harry ate dinner at six in the morning, since his days and nights were reversed, he opened the newly delivered _Daily Prophet_ , courtesy of Kreacher going to buy one, since Hedwig was the only owl that could find him now.

He chuckled as he saw the front page. He'd wondered how long it would take, but the newspaper was finally acknowledging that people and especially heads of a few families were turning up dead. It had been five days since he'd saved Amelia Bones and he'd speculated he'd have heard about someone asking this question several days ago.

He even read an eye witness account from a man who had been in Diagon Alley and was stunned, only to wake up later and find his friend dead. If that hadn't been surprise enough, he also found out that his friend had been a Death Eater and he had never even suspected.

That there was no mention of Dolohov or any others having escaped was not much of a surprise. He could understand them not wanting to panic people. On the other hand, didn't people need to know to watch out for escapees and report them? He figured that was Fudge's doing and - assuming Bones became Minister in a few days - that would change.

Now the pressure was on, will the others join the Death Eaters or not, he wondered. He also speculated that his job was going to be harder as they'd be more ready for him.

Finished with dinner and not quite sleepy yet, he headed upstairs to the library. He had one more task he wanted to accomplish, though it didn't have to be finished tonight. Looking around, he pulled a few Potions books off the shelf and sat down to research.

He really wished Hermione was here as she was so much better than he was, but he would have to make do. She had done the hard part he supposed in finding him a small phial of Erumpet Fluid, which was her surprise in the box of potions. Her note had been very clear it was not for healing and she'd suggest that he might find a way to make it into a weapon if he looked in this library … so here he was.

By the time he was ready to go to bed, he was still unsuccessful, but he had more books to look through and more time.

~~~IronWizard~~~

It was mid-week and he'd come up dry for the last few days, which he found frustrating. That caused him to take a slightly risky attempt. He walked down Knockturn Alley carefully since no Death Eaters had walked by him. Stopping in front of the one window for the Poison Quill pub, he looked in through the dingy glass. Not seeing a Dark Mark on the few arms he could see, he waited by the door. A few minutes later someone left and Harry entered the pub.

He slowly walked around to check out arms while having to dodge a barmaid and various elbows in the packed building. Towards the back, he finally found what he wanted, a table of four men all of whom where Death Eaters.

Were they here before he started watching tonight or was there another way in? Looking around he didn't see a fireplace big enough to be a Floo connection point.

As the barmaid came by, he had to be quick to dodge her as there was little open area to stand. That made him very thankful he not only had the Invisibility Cloak but that Hermione had made his armor silent as she said she would.

He also pulled out his wand in case he needed to do a spell that needed it.

A few moments later, a man at the next table left. Harry dodged him - barely. His chair went on the floor and no one picked it up. With a grin at his good fortune, he carefully squeezed between two people and went to stand where the chair had sat, putting him out of the way of the barmaid and others. He was also close enough to hear the conversation he wanted now. Sadly, he didn't recognize any of the four Death Eaters.

"I still don't like it," one said.

"Aye, but nothing can be done about it," said a second.

The only blond said, "Malfoy is right, we need to stop coming to the pubs."

That caught Harry's attention and gave the clue they were talking about his work.

"But how are we to recruit?" the first asked.

"Don't know about you," the last spoke finally, "but the bloke I asked yesterday turned me down when I knew he was interested before. I tell you, someone has to get rid of the Shadow Knight."

Shadow Knight? Hmm, not half bad, Harry thought with a grin.

"We'll have to ask them to our homes," the blond said bitterly, "and give them our alcohol."

"I don't like being forced to recruit," the first complained, "especially when it's getting harder."

Harry smiled as it sounded like his plan might be working.

The blond looked at his watch. "I don't think he's coming or he would have been here half an hour ago. Let's go."

The two that had a little left in their glasses downed it and they all rose. Harry followed the four, anxious to see how they traveled. The group went through the door nearby that led to the restrooms, but there was a small corridor that went further and they went down it.

As one, they looked to make sure no one was there before the lead man opened another door. It didn't go to the kitchens but into a small room that had a fireplace big enough for a man to enter.

Harry saw the first grab what must be Floo Powder from a dish on the mantel. Not having time to think, he let his cloak fall open as he shoved his arms out and Banishing the man forward with one hand so his head slammed into the thick mantel, his neck bending at an odd angle. His other hand held his wand and he muttered a cutting curse at the other man on the right. His left hand tracked to his left and cast an area Cutting curse at the last two as they went wide-eyed at his partially visible form before they fell. To ensure they didn't get up, he sent a wide-area Stunning spell with his glove.

It wasn't until they all now lay still and bleeding that he realized how fast his heart was beating. Quickly, in case someone came to see about the noise, he summoned each man's wand and made sure the man was dead. For the one that wasn't he hit him throat with another Cutting curse. Using his wand, Harry turned each corpse to stone and then shrank them.

Putting the last in his pouch a cleaning up the blood on the floor, a young man not much older than him came out of the Floo in a hurry and ran into Harry, who was still had his cloak open in front and now also had the hood back. The young man stood there in shock while Harry looked down to his arm and found the Dark Mark - apparently the one the others had been waiting on.

Harry reached out and grabbed his arm as the young man Apparated away, taking Harry with him. The two landed in what looked like a house based on his quick glance, which also showed a young woman was there. He pulsed a Stunning spell with the hand that held the young man and stunned the woman too with his other hand as she opened her mouth, probably to scream. To be safe, he bound them both with ropes.

"Crap," he said quietly even if he didn't need to. To be sure he was safe, he checked the place and found it to be a small flat and there were no others present. Carefully, he lifted the sleeve of the woman and found the arm to be unblemished. "Crap; this is a fine mess." He pulled out his wand and stunned each of them to make sure they stayed out for a few hours.

He wondered who he could get to help with an Obliviation and came up blank, except perhaps for McGonagall. Yet he didn't want to involve her this far. Killing the woman was not going to happen, so that left him with two choices. He could Imperious her and command her to forget, but that could send him to Azkaban since she might be diagnosed and helped, which would mean she would remember - not good. Or he could try a spell he'd never done before and hoped it worked and that he didn't scramble her brains.

There really was no other good option that he could come up with on short order…wait. He grinned to himself, he had a library with some books with not very nice spells and he had at least a few hours.

He took the man's wand before he grabbed the two of them and Apparated to Sirius's cave. He covered the man's mouth with his glove as he had his first victim and did another Banishing spell to end this one. He turned him into stone and shrank him down. The woman he left there as he didn't expect anyone to find her and he didn't want to take her to #12.

Apparating home, he took his cloak off and hurried to the library as he called out to Kreacher to get him some tea. He set all of his captured wands and little stone Death Eaters on the table and then started searching. It took him nearly an hour, but he grinned when he found a book that described removing a person's memories. He read it several times and practiced while casting on a chair.

Satisfied it'd probably work, he returned to the cave and found the woman was still there and still stunned. Deciding that it might be best to just remove her memories of her entire evening, he cast the spell on her. Not sure what else to do but knowing he didn't want to leave her some place unsafe and unwilling to return to the couple's house, he Apparated to the Ministry and set her down on the floor.

Looking up and hoping he didn't have to hurt the guard. He was relieved he didn't have to hurt him, but also a little upset to find the guard asleep and not doing his job. Harry pulled out his wand and cast a Stinging hex at the man before Apparating away and the before the spell hit.

With those wands he was now at 23 plus Riddle's. He also had an idea for the next time he had a quiet night … or really two ideas.

* * *

(A/N: Harry is making some good progress, but can he keep it going? :-)


	8. Chapter 8

(A/N: Please note that I follow Strunk & White's "The Elements of Style" rule #1, meaning "Bones's" is correct. If you're a writer and have never read this book, you really should. It's available online or probably for cheap at a used bookstore.)

* * *

 **Chapter 8**

It was Saturday night and he had a little less than two weeks before Hermione returned and exactly two weeks before school started. His wand count was now 26, though it was getting harder to find Death Eaters.

As he was about to leave the Hogshead pub, empty again, two Death Eaters Apparated in near the front door. Harry never hesitated after looking at their arms and shoved one glove forward to catch them both in a Stunning spell. A man's voice from across the square let him know his spell had been seen, so he stepped forward and bent down, grabbing an arm of each before he Apparated to the cave.

He considered trying to get information out of them, but he really didn't know what he could ask that would help him. That made him wish Hermione was here as he was sure he was overlooking something. He gave them each a Cutting curse to the neck and turned to look out over Hogsmeade as they bleed out, trying to absorb a little of the peace before him. A few minutes later he turned them to stone and shrunk them.

Putting them in his pouch, he went home to grab a few things to take with him. He also donned his Invisibility Cloak again before Apparating to the Ministry.

Good for the Ministry and yet unfortunately for him, the guard was awake this time. Ready for it with a newly learned spell, he made his way silently to the man and from behind cast a sleeping spell with his wand barely poking out of his Cloak. Harry caught the man's shoulder as he drooped and laid him carefully on his desk. Going the rest of the way around the man, he entered the Ministry.

Harry took the stairs in all cases, visiting as many of the offices as he could looking for people. There were very few here at this time of night, as expected.

In the Auror department, he walked around looking for two things here. In addition to searching for Death Eaters, he also wanted a specific desk. Eventually, he found a plaque that said, "Kingsley Shacklebolt, Senior Auror". He wrote a note with the materials at hand to say, "Here's 7 more that will never terrorize again." In addition to tonight's two, he added the five "stone dolls" from the other night.

As he was about to leave, an Auror walked in from a back room and Harry saw a Dark Mark on his arm with his special vision. Pulling out his wand and waiting until the man walked past him, he stunned him from behind. To avoid a mess on the floor, he decided to try another newly learned spell that stopped the man's heart … it worked the first time. This corpse was turned into a stone doll too and was placed on Kingsley's desk with the others. He also picked up the quill and changed the "7" to an "8".

Wishing he could visit the Ministry during the day to check more people he wouldn't normally see but knowing he couldn't, he called this good and left for home. Hopefully, this would be a wake-up call to the Aurors.

~~~IronWizard~~~

Kingsley Shacklebolt, new Head Auror Gawain Robards, and new Director for the DMLE Rufus Scrimgeour each stood at attention in front of Amelia Bones's desk in her new office.

"I'm waiting," she growled as she looked at each, and each continued to stand there silently.

"Gentleman," she said slowly and with a tone as cold as ice, "if I don't get an answer as to how you have eight dead Death Eaters on an Auror's desk and one of them being an Auror in the next ten seconds, there will be demotions to Junior Auror for all of you."

Shacklebolt showed his Gryffindor spirit by saying, "Minister, while I initially assumed that another Auror put them on my desk for me to take care of, I do know the guard reported that he fell asleep unexpectedly when an Auror caught him that way early this morning, so it is _possible_ that the White Knight came to the Ministry last night and left them … just as we surmised that it was the White Knight that left the unconscious woman here the other night. In fact, I'm almost certain of it because one of the stone Death Eaters is her husband. We'll know more for sure when we question her again now that we have her husband's body."

"Do either you have something to add to that?" Bones asked, staring at the other two intently.

"No, Minister," they said almost in chorus.

"Very well. I trust there will not be a repeat of this with the guard and someone sneaking into this building, will there?" She directed her gaze and her ire at Scrimgeour. While this might be a little unfair of her because she hadn't done anything about a lone guard late at night when this was her responsibility a week ago, it was now Rufus's job.

"No, Minister; there will now be two guards in sight of each other and they will not be sitting together," Rufus told her.

"Very good, it seems we have that taken care of." Amelia leaned back in her chair. "Now, tell me how we have a Death Eater as an Auror. We checked our entire Auror force almost two weeks ago." She ignored Shacklebolt for the moment as it was really up to the other two.

"I would propose we call for an emergency check-in again to summon everyone from all shifts," Robards started. "This time, we get everyone into the cafeteria and the only checkers are Rufus and myself, not the team we had last time because someone on the team is probably also a Death Eater and let him through."

"That would be acceptable with one modification." She pulled out her wand and pointed it at them. "Lift your sleeves one at a time. Rufus, I'll start with you." When he did, she shot a Finite at each of his arms and also did a detection spell for magic. The other two men passed as well.

"Very good, gentlemen. It's only half eight, so make the call and I'll help check." She rose to follow them out.

"Err, excuse me Minister," Shacklebolt said, again proving his bravery. "But you should be checked too."

She smiled ever so slightly. "I wondered who would think of that." She bared both of her arms and passed the checks.

Two hours later, they had four more Death Eaters in custody: two were Aurors, one from International Relations, and one from the accounting department. One of the Aurors was on the team that checked last time. The non-Aurors were caught with luck when they walked into the cafeteria during the check and were forced to show their arms since they were there. Amelia wanted to force this check for the entire Ministry but didn't believe she yet had the political capital to do so. She thought she would after these trials.

~~~IronWizard~~~

Harry sat on the roof of a shop near the Apparation point in Diagon Alley, mostly hidden by a short false wall. With a little effort, he was able to raise his head high enough to see down into the alley below as he sat on his conjured stool. Every crack of Apparation or voice or footstep caused him to look down and carefully check the arms of those coming or going.

Hermione would be back in a week, or on the 30th. He now had 34 wands plus Riddle's. He'd spent a few evenings in the back/hidden room of the Poison Quill and bagged a few more Death Eaters. These corpses had been left in the Ministry's entrance-way with a note that said, "Death Eaters are bad". Perhaps it sounded childish but he had fun and he knew Bones would know it was from him.

He'd enjoyed reading about the found Death Eaters in the Daily Prophet as a writer asked the question he had been pondering quite a bit: Just how many Death Eaters were left?

Of course, his stakeouts gave him a lot of time to think about a variety of questions.

Hermione had been a favorite topic and he missed her greatly. He truly hoped her parents weren't there when he saw her next as he might try to get a little more "familiar" with her then he ever had before. He was also starting to believe he might have love for her.

Dumbledore had also been an interesting topic for a few evenings. His present conclusion was that the man wasn't evil, he was merely very lax on the details when dealing with people. Harry thought the man just didn't think the details through on what the other person, such as himself, might experience or think when Dumbledore did whatever he did. Harry also strongly considered that Dumbledore might be going senile and losing his mental abilities. Whatever the reason, his previous statement to Dumbledore still held: Dumbledore would never be his favorite professor and ranked just above Snape - whom he wouldn't trust with his rubbish. He'd trust Dumbledore with his rubbish but not much more.

A set of Apparation cracks sounded, causing Harry to looked down and turn on his special vision again. In the group of six that had just appeared, four had Dark Marks; but all six had Death Eater masks and wands held by their side as they walked towards Knockturn Alley with the two unmarked ones leading. One of the unmarked was also female, the other five in the group were all male.

Pulling his Invisibility Cloak all the way on, Harry stood and walked to the edge to take the situation in. According to his policy, he shouldn't hurt the two, but they wore the mask. Also, he'd have to be careful with this group as the alley wasn't completely empty since it was only about 10pm. Lastly, something pulled on his instincts that this could be a trap, but he felt like he didn't have a choice here. He suspected the two were under the Imperious as they seemed to walk a little slower than a normal person, making him hope they were trying to fight it.

He eyed the path they were taking and started planning. With care not to trip, he walked across the roof to a point they would walk near. Waiting and trying to time it correctly, when they reached the position below him, he dropped his cloak to be picked up later and jumped over the low wall around the roof and did not kick in his flying charms. He dropped right on top of the two in the back, a fist on each head to slow himself, causing them to fall permanently with broken skulls and necks.

Reaching forward, he sent two Banishing charms at the unmarked ones, careful to send them flying down the alley and not into a wall or window.

The two that had been on the side turned and each shot a Blasting Hex at him. One hit him in the body and the other in the head. The body shot knocked him back several steps but didn't really hurt him. The one to the head caused a loud ringing in his ears that he couldn't ignore. "Bloody hell!" he shouted and couldn't even hear himself.

He summoned the closest Death Eater as they started to curse him again. Harry grabbed the flying man and pulled him towards himself, putting one foot back so he wouldn't go flying too, and used the Death Eater as a shield while the other sent a Killing Curse at Harry and instead killed his fellow Death Eater.

While the fourth Death Eater stood there in shock at what he'd done, Harry cast two Cutting curses at him and was surprised they didn't cut the man, but instead a necklace around the man's neck flared brilliantly and was almost blinding in the near darkness. Angry at being stopped, he thought about a Blasting hex and to his surprise two shot from his gloves and hit the man in his chest, ripping his robes open with flesh, blood, and bone flying. The Death Eater was dead before he hit the ground.

Harry might have been sickened by that, but two more Blasting hexes hit him in the body, distracting him from the big mess that he'd just made. The two unmarked ones were casting at him, so if they were magically controlled, it was by someone other than the four he had just killed he surmised.

To prevent them from getting away, he ran towards them. He supposed they were shocked by this since they just stood there as he closed the distance, but he couldn't see their faces. As he drew near, they started trying to cast again; but he sent a Stunning Spell from each hand causing each to fall.

Turning back to check behind him in case there were more Death Eaters, he saw some Aurors in the distance near the Apparation point starting to run his direction. He summoned the four wands of the dead Death Eaters and put them in his pouch before he flew up over the roofs. When he couldn't be seen from the ground any more, he dropped down slowly and landed on the roof of a shop down the Alley and walked back to get his Invisibility Cloak and to listen in now that his hearing had mostly returned.

A few minutes later when the Aurors pulled the masks off the survivors, Harry wasn't sure whether to laugh or not, probably not he decided in the end. The two unmarked ones were Percy Weasley and Penelope Clearwater. He was fairly sure they had been Imperiused, but those two were going to have a bloody difficult time talking themselves out of this - or so he thought.

It took nearly two hours before the situation was completely handled and not once did anyone look up. Harry flew out of Diagon Alley to a Muggle alley and then Apparated home. His wand count was now 38.

— — —

"Report!" Voldemort barked as Pettigrew entered the chamber and bowed at the man's feet.

The rat-man wondered briefly why he did this, but a glimpse of his silver hand answered it; the Dark Lord was very powerful so he had no choice now but to serve. "Master, _He_ was there as you said he would be."

"And?"

"When he attacked, he seemed to know who was marked and who wasn't without touching them since he saved those two for last and didn't kill them," said Pettigrew.

"And the necklaces?"

"They helped them to survive one attack." Pettigrew mentally cringed and prepared himself for punishment, but none came.

"So, he killed all four of the worthless fools?" Voldemort asked with disdain.

"No, Master, just three. Wilkins killed Fillmore; _He_ summoned Fillmore to him and used him as a shield for Wilkin's killing curse."

"Unfortunate that you didn't see if the Killing Curse did anything to him, yet this news is interesting…" Voldemort waved his servant away and pondered this. As soon as he was alone for no one else to see him, he slammed his hand down on the arm of his chair and hissed angrily at yet another delay to his plans and feeling like he was no closer to figuring out this Shadow Knight.

~~~IronWizard~~~

(The next evening…)

"Are you sure?" Dumbledore asked.

"Yes," Snape replied. "I scanned his memory and Pettigrew watched the trap and this Knight only killed the Death Eaters. From what I can gather, the Dark Lord is disconcerted about what to do with this individual. Recruitment is down, there have been only a few new ones in the last month. He's started pulling in the younger sons to compensate. Draco was forced to join because of his father's failure last June or else I believe the Dark Lord would have killed Lucius."

"So young Draco really had no choice," Dumbledore mumbled sadly.

"No, nor did Nott, Goyle, or Crabbe."

Dumbledore looked up alarmed. "So many…"

"Also," Snape drawled the word as if to give himself a little more time before he had to say this next part, "Draco has been given a task to do and should he fail, then the entire Malfoy line will probably end."

"There is so little magical blood, we can ill-afford to lose an entire family. Do you know the task?" asked Dumbledore, looking concerned.

"Not completely, but Narcissa came to me, told me a little, and begged me to help Draco if required. I have a feeling that if Bella was still alive she would have required an Unbreakable Vow."

Dumbledore's eyebrows rose. "Something important then. What do you know?"

"It is only a guess, but I am mostly certain," Snape paused, "that Draco will need to kill you this school year and probably before Christmas. The Dark Lord is getting desperate from losing so many of his followers. He needs a victory from somewhere and he is most displeased with Lucius, so he's focused on that family."

"While I still do not like this White Knight's methods, he is turning the tide in our favor it seems; interesting…" Dumbledore leaned back in his chair to consider this new information.

— — —

Arthur Weasley walked into his home slowly and wearily. He'd purposefully Apparated to the paddock to steel himself for the coming conversation, and just perhaps - not wanting to admit it to himself - experience a few minutes of quiet.

He was barely inside the door before he heard "Arthur?!" then his wife was grasping him in a desperate hug. "What do you know?"

Guiding her to a sofa and setting her down, he asked, "Which part?"

"All of it! Will our baby go to Azkaban?" Desperation was in her voice.

"No, they've determined that Percy and Penny were each under the Imperious." She sighed and almost sobbed in relief, clutching him tightly again. "Let me call Ron and Ginny in so they can hear this too."

"They're too young," she said quickly as she pulled back and looked at him in fear.

He knew her fear, but he also knew she was doing their children no favors in this. "I suppose we can just let them overhear us then, the result will be almost the same." As Molly made to rise, obviously to find them and to send them to their rooms, Arthur held on to her. "No," he said softly for her ears, "they need to hear this from us and not from rumors."

Molly looked at him for a moment and then seemed to wilt and nodded once.

"Ron, Ginny, come on in," the father said with a raised voice.

Ginny was the first to appear from around the door and Ron followed a few steps behind. "How did you know we were there?" his daughter asked.

He just smiled. "Let's call it father's intuition and lots of experience with your brothers. Have a seat, please."

When they were settled in chairs, he noticed they looked a little apprehensive, which he could understand. "As you heard this morning, Percy and Penny were caught in Diagon Alley with Death Eaters and dressed as one, including wearing the mask. While the Death Eaters were killed, Percy and Penny were spared except for some bumps and bruises."

"How were the Death Eaters killed?" Ginny asked quietly.

"Ginny!" her mother hissed.

"Your mother is correct, you don't need to know. In fact," Arthur said honestly, "I wished I didn't know in one case, but they are gone.

"Because the two have been proved to be under the Imperious, they will be set free when St Mungo's and the Aurors are certain they are in full control of themselves again, which may be as much as a week from now."

"Why were they used?" Molly asked.

Arthur shook his head. "That isn't known and probably never will be. Neither Penny nor Percy can remember being abducted. It's possible they were chosen to embarrass me or our side or perhaps the Ministry, but it's just as likely they were in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Ginny nodded before she asked, "So, has this knocked any sense into his head?"

Arthur couldn't help but chuckle as Ginny gave him a slow grin. His wife and Ron gave the two quizzical looks as if they thought the other two were daft. "Well," he answered his daughter, his expression turning wry, "it has knocked at least a little sense into him. He now recognizes that You-Know-Who and his followers are a real threat and that all of us might have a need to fight back. As for the rest of his disagreements with us, I think he's on the road to working them out over the next few months."

"Oh, Arthur, that's wonderful news!" Molly hugged him again and he patted her on the back. "I'm also so happy those two are still together."

Ron looked like he didn't want to see his parents hugging while Ginny looked thoughtful and then started to smile to herself. Arthur feared for Percy slightly, but also thought that perhaps a little humility might be good for his third son. He knew he'd have to be ready to rein in his daughter and probably his twin sons also.

~~~IronWizard~~~

It was the last full day of their holiday trip to Greece and Hermione wanted nothing more than to be at home … well, not exactly. She wanted to be with her boyfriend, but he was "at home". That thought amused her for a brief moment because it was such a typical teenage girl desire, and "typical" was a description that could rarely be applied to her, or so she thought.

Looking over her shoulder to make sure her parents were following, she saw them holding hands again as they walked and she sighed. It was almost certain they didn't realize that by doing that around her that it made her miss Harry more, but it did. She would have loved to have brought him along on this trip and shared all that she'd seen with him.

Her parents were at least trying to help her enjoy the trip more as they'd let her plan the last few days. She'd dragged them to all the really old sites, which looked different to her based on their comments. Where they saw complete ruins, she saw only partial ruins. She had almost pointed that out to them, but stopped at the last moment, afraid that'd cause a scene and a conversation she really didn't want to have at the moment.

The last place on her list had been to visit the ancient Temple of Delphi. She wondered if she'd see anything significantly magical here. It was not uncommon to feel a little magic in most of the ancient sites, but other than some of the ruins not being so ruined, she hadn't seen that much extra.

The site wasn't all that big, so her parents let her wander around on her own. As she walked on the side of the site near the hills, she felt something tug at her, as if it wanted her to go that way. Not too worried that anything bad could happen because there were others not too far away and she had her wand in her shoulder bag, she ventured over. The closer she walked to the rock wall, the more compelled she felt to go there.

Not seeing anything other than smooth rock, she was about to turn around when she felt the pull again. Not sure what else to do, she put her hand on the rock to see if she felt more magic and instead of feeling warm stone in the sun her hand went right through up to her elbow. Before she knew it, someone grabbed her hand and pulled her all the way through the rock wall. She started going for her wand until she saw the person was a young girl not too much younger looking than she was, with long dark brown hair and dressed in a simple toga-like robe.

The girl said something and smiled as she waved her hand into the cave that was lit with torches, much like Hogwarts was. When Hermione didn't move, the girl said the same thing again and waved her in.

Hermione gave her a hesitant smile and started to walk forward, not sure what she was getting herself into. As she walked around the first bend, she came into a large cavern that held at least twenty people dressed in modern Muggle clothes like she was, a handful in modern Wizarding robes, plus another dozen dressed in the toga/robes like the first girl was.

The next thing she noticed was that no one seemed to be paying attention to her. Another observation was that no one had a wand or any other weapon in hand, so she was probably safe. Nevertheless, she opened her bag so she could grab her wand more quickly, and she put her hand on top of the bag.

After walking around for a few minutes, one of the middle-aged workers in a toga came over to her and said something that Hermione was almost certain was Greek, based on her experience over the last three weeks. Doing her best with the Greek word, though sure she was mispronouncing it, she said, «English».

The woman nodded and turned, shouting something, which brought a university-aged girl over. The older woman left as the young woman said, "Greetings and welcome to the Sanctuary of the Pythia. Would you like to consult the Pythia or one of her acolytes?"

Hermione blinked for a moment as she realized she was almost certainly in a magical only area based on the fact of how the entrance worked - just like the portal to Platform 9 ¾ - and that the Oracle of Delphi hadn't existed since the 400's AD, or so she'd read.

"Excuse me and I don't mean to offend, but the real Oracle of Delphi?" Hermione asked, not able to keep all of the incredulity out of her voice.

The young woman's smile grew and she chuckled quietly. "Yes, the real Oracle. There has been an Oracle in residence for thousands of years. However, we went into hiding about 1500 years ago. Now, only those who have the essence or are called can find her now. Since you keep your hand near your bag, do you have a focus for your essence in your bag and detected us, or were you drawn in?"

"I, uh, both?" Hermione answered, hoping she really understood what was going on. Why hadn't she researched this more before coming here, she asked herself.

"Oh? Then that changes things and you can go to the front of the line." The young woman started to turn and then stopped. "It is customary to give a donation of five gold coins. Did you bring any?"

"I have a few; I didn't expect to need many on this trip. I didn't know the real Oracle was here," Hermione explained.

"A few is enough," the girl said brightly and grabbed Hermione's hand and pulled her forward and around all the others.

Most were dressed like farmers, probably hoping for a good word to help them she thought. Hermione also wondered if this was going to be like a Divination class with Trelawney and hoped not. If there was real Divination, then it should be here, or so she'd found when looking into the topic back in her third year before she dropped Trelawney's class.

Her guide talked in Greek to a middle-aged woman in a more flowing and ornate toga, which was also more revealing and showed her cleavage completely, proving that she wasn't wearing a bra underneath.

The woman nodded to the guide and walked over to Hermione and slowly raised her right hand, finger splayed, and put it on Hermione's head. She had barely touched Hermione went the woman jerked her hand back as if burned and barked a few words in surprise. Hermione wasn't sure what to think since she had felt no pain at all. The woman immediately turned and walked a few paces before snatching some white cloth from a shelf and coming back and thrusting it at Hermione.

"You are to take it. I will lead you to a changing room," her guide said looking at her with wider eyes.

"But…" Hermione tried to protest but was cut off when the guide took the garment and thrust it into Hermione's hands.

"You are a Child of Prophecy and must see the Oracle."

Hermione blinked, not fully believing this was happening to her. This was more like something that would happen to Harry.

Her guide grabbed her hand and pulled an only barely resisting Hermione to a small room with a curtain. "Put all of your things in the box except for five gold coins, which might be returned to you if the Oracle finds favor with you. Wear only the garment. I'll be back in a few minutes." The girl closed the curtain and left.

Not sure what else to do at the moment, Hermione went with it, stripping down to her underwear and then putting the loose garment on. Not sure which way it went, she put the deep V-cut on the back. She dug out five Galleons from her bag, but wondered if this was some sort of scam. She did appreciate that all the workers she'd seen were female, as that made her feel a little safer.

As she finished the guide came back. "We must be there in a few minutes. You have it on backward. Pull your arms inside and I will turn it around." When she turned it, she frowned. "I said you are to wear only the garment. Take your other things off and put them in the box then grab the key. Hurry!"

Feeling very self-conscience about it, Hermione took her underwear off from under the white linen garment and put the two pieces in the box. She'd wondered what the ribbon on the side was for. Grasping the small brass key on the end of the ribbon, she turned it and pulled it out.

The girl took the key from Hermione and undid a catch on the ribbon, then she put it around Hermione's neck like a very short necklace and the key hung at the bottom of her throat. "Come." She grabbed Hermione's hand again and led her quickly through the cave system.

Hermione appreciated the fact that the floor was worn smooth over time as she hated walking on surfaces with little rocks to poke her feet.

Soon Hermione was standing just outside a doorway with beads on strings to give the occupants the illusion of privacy, but it wasn't much. She could see what looked like an older man dressed in a white garment down on one knee with a very old woman standing before him with her hand on top of his head. Her lips were moving but Hermione couldn't hear anything, probably due to magic she thought. However, there was another middle-aged woman standing nearby holding a board and a quill moving on its own. Another young woman was standing by as well.

The ancient looking woman finished and stepped back to sit on a very minimal chair (or maybe a stool) while the man rose and bowed to the woman, who was obviously the Oracle or the Pythia. The assistant pulled the quill from the board and then pulled parchment off of the board and handed it to him. He bowed to her too and then walked towards them.

"When I lead you in," the guide said in a whisper in her ear, "put your coins in the bowl on your left, then walk to her and bow, then go down on one knee. You don't need to say anything. When it's over, you'll get a transcript of what she says. For one gold coin, I'll translate it for you, or you can take the record to someone else to translate."

The man, also in a white garment, walked past her with his guide leading him.

Her guide touched her elbow and walked forward; Hermione followed. The guide paused and looked left, where Hermione saw a small stone bowl sitting in a little alcove in the rock wall. She dropped her coins in and they walked forward. There was a slight smell in the air she'd never smelt before - it was earthly in nature but pungent.

Hermione saw the old woman was sitting on a three legged stool in front of a chasm with the crack in the rock floor starting under the stool. She wondered how many Oracles had been lost when the chair broke and the woman fell backwards into the chasm.

Her guide stopped and pointed to a spot. Hermione bowed her head and went down on one knee as instructed, thankful the garment went to her ankles so no one behind her could see her privates.

The old woman touched the top of Hermione's head with only her fingertips and then breathed a short phrase.

"None," her guide whispered. "No Oracle has ever fallen into the chasm."

Hermione gasped at her unasked question being answered and looked up to see the ancient woman smiling at her with a full set of teeth that were as white as her long hair. A second hand touched her and the two pulled up slightly, so she stood.

The first hand stayed where it was and the second hand slid down her neck and onto her body, stopping almost on top of her left breast inside her garment. As Hermione was about to object, the woman mumbled something.

"Good heart," was translated.

Shaking her head, the Oracle moved her first hand to Hermione's forehead. Another shake and she moved it a little more; now she smiled. Hermione wondered if it was coincidence that was the same place Harry's scar was on his forehead.

A longer mumble and the guide said, "No, but it would be easier if the other Child of Prophecy was here too. Now think of nothing or think of the path of sun that our patron Apollo travels."

Chastised but understanding the Oracle was a Legilimens by touch, Hermione did her best to comply. Knowing she couldn't think of nothing, she chose to think of the night sky with the sun rising and bringing light and glory to the world and how refreshing it all was. She also found it easier to think of that as time flowed.

Lost in the vision, she was startled when a guttural voice spoke quick and strong. Her eyes flew open and she saw the Oracle with whites only for her eyes and her expression was one of pain. As soon as the woman finished speaking, she all but fell onto her chair, which creaked but did not fall into the chasm.

The Oracle murmured one last phrase and then closed her eyes as she flicked her right hand as if to say "be gone".

The transcriptionist pulled off her parchment and handed it to Hermione before saying something in Greek.

The guide tugged on Hermione's shoulder and steered her towards the opening. They stopped at the payment bowl and the guide fished out the coins and led Hermione back to her changing area, walking past no one else. The young woman handed the coins over. "The Pythia said there is no charge for a Child of Prophecy. However, if you'd like that translated to English, I will still require one coin."

Not sure what else to do, Hermione handed one coin back to her and the parchment before going into the changing area and closing the curtain. Removing the key from her neck, she opened the box and pulled her things out to get dressed again. Seeing her modern clothes, she hoped her parents weren't worried about her. Her ritual garment was left on the floor.

She had no idea if she'd get a good translation or not, but this sounded like something she didn't want to share with anyone else and who knew how long it'd take her to translate it - assuming it wasn't a scam. Besides, if she really had a prophecy about her, she felt the sooner she knew the better. On the other hand, she promised herself that she would try to translate it herself as a double-check. She ended her internal debate with an "Ugh!" over the entire topic of Divination.

As she exited the changing area with her bag over her shoulder, her guide took her back to the entrance. "No one but another magical will see you walk out of the entrance nor will they see you walking away for a short distance; however, please head to the nearest attraction before you stop. Here is the original in Greek and my translation." The two parchments were thrust into Hermione's hand.

She looked at Hermione with interest for a moment. "I have served here for over a year and you are the first Child of Prophecy I have ever met. It is an honor. Good luck." With that, she turned and left. The young girl at the entrance pointed the way out and smiled.

Hermione nodded at her and left the cave. She stopped for a short moment after her second step and when she was completely outside to blink furiously against the strong sunlight after being in the torch-lit cave. With a deep breath, she walked forward until she found some shade from a large column and leaned against it.

Taking a moment to contemplate the experience, Hermione felt this was more real and it showed what a fraud Trelawney was. On the other hand, much of the time had been very strange, but she assumed it was because of a culture shift, from her modern day back to probably what it was like in Ancient Greece.

Just as she started to wonder about what was prophesied, she heard, "Hermione!"

Turning, she saw her parents walking toward her quickly. Reasonably sure she it would be unwise to share the prophecy with them, she folded the parchments and stuffed them in her bag. She supposed a brief version of the conversation she didn't want to have from a few days earlier was going to happen now.

"Where have you been, dear? We've been searching all over for you," her mum said very worriedly and her father looked it too. "What's wrong? You don't look well."

"I, uh, I just found a magical only area and it shook me a bit," she half-lied by omission. "I didn't expect to find anything like that."

"What was it like, honey?" her father asked. "Can you take us there like you do when you buy school supplies?"

"No, dad, I don't think it works that way here. I'm not sure how to describe it. It was like I was transported back in time and for a few moments I was in Ancient Greece and experiencing life." She paused and hoped this worked. "It was a shock to change perspectives to that and then to come back. I'm not hurt, I'm just unsettled."

"Why would they do something like that?" her father asked with concern.

"It was educational," Hermione told him. "I just wished there had been a sign warning me about it, but I guess they didn't want anyone non-magical finding it by accident."

"There are times I dislike magic," her father said fiercely but quietly. Her mother agreed with a nod.

Hermione could understand that, and yet this was her life now. She didn't hold this attitude against them because she recognized they didn't have the perspective to understand.

"Well, I think I'm ready to go if you are," Hermione told them. Her parents agreed and they returned to the car.

While her parents talked in the front seat as they drove to Athens to see a few final sites and to catch their flight home tomorrow, Hermione pulled out the parchments from her bag and looked, almost dreading what she'd find.

The original was filled with Greek symbols and was signed at the bottom, probably by the transcriptionist, she thought. She smiled to herself and mentally laughed at the old joke about it being all Greek to her.

The second page had flowing script and was easily readable, for which she was thankful.

 _ **There is fire all around,  
One for burning,  
Two for healing,  
Three for saving,  
If the third fire fails,  
The fourth fire will destroy us all.**_

Hermione sighed and put the folded parchments back in her purse moodily. This was a prime example of why she thought Divination sucked, or as Professor McGonagall said was so wooly. It was hardly ever clear and better interpreted after the fact. Yet, the consequences for failure sounded dire.

She wanted to talk about this with someone, but Harry was the only one she trusted fully. Harry… She worked to keep her groan silent. The Oracle called him a Child of Prophecy too and she knew he had a task in front of him now. She was also called a Child of Prophecy so she was certain this prophecy was about her.

Closing her eyes and going through it line by line and trying to make sense of it, all she could come up with was that she wouldn't destroy the world, so she wasn't the fourth fire. Harry had a people saving thing, so maybe he was the third fire? And didn't they already know that if Harry failed Voldemort would rule and that might destroy the world. So where did that leave her? The fire for healing, which meant Harry would be hurt? She sincerely hoped not!

Hermione put on her best "game face" to appear normal, but she was very thoughtful and subdued for the rest of the trip. Fortunately, she'd see Harry in a little more than 24 hours, and every magical newspaper she'd been able to find had no mention of Harry or big happenings in Britain, so she was hopeful he was still all right.

* * *

(A/N: There are two chapters left. I thought it'd be "fun" to give Hermione her own prophecy. :)


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Harry was back in Hogsmeade under his Invisibility Cloak since it was late afternoon. He was very tired, which to him meant staying up too late and not sleeping enough; so he was walking around slowly and looking at men's arms. Other than Bella, he hadn't seen or met any female Death Eaters, so he ignored the women in an attempt to keep his promise to Hermione not to ogle any women. The only exception he made was if a person was wearing a Death Eater mask, which had saved Penny Clearwater's life.

That made him think of Hermione yet again. He smiled as he considered how he might greet her when she arrived home this evening. That, as well as the fact that he hadn't caught any Death Eaters at night for the last five days, was why he was patrolling during the afternoon and would through the evening until it was time to go meet her.

He was disappointed not to have killed anyone lately. His one chance had come a couple of days ago when he found a single Death Eater in a group of six. The other five hadn't been marked and he had been unable to isolate his intended victim, so Harry had had to let him go.

For the last few days, Hogsmeade was his preferred beat for the daytime since it was larger than Diagon Alley and so people were more spread out. Also, Diagon Alley only allowed Apparation at a single designated point, while you could Apparate anywhere in Hogsmeade except inside a store. It made sense to him as the owners would want that to prevent theft.

Enjoying the beautiful day, he again thought of his girlfriend and was looking forward to holding her hand and stealing kisses. Her offer just before she'd left if he could keep himself alive could not be forgotten either … that had fueled multiple extremely pleasant daydreams.

As he circled back towards the Hogshead pub, which he tried to keep near, he noted the number of people out was increasing slightly as it neared dinner time. That meant he had about two more hours left.

A young man he didn't recognize hurried out of the pub in front of him, stumbling in his haste. A quick check showed a Dark Mark on his arm. Harry took the needed two large steps forward, while the man pulled out his wand. Harry pushed his arm out of his cloak and grabbed the man's left arm just as he touched his wand to a button with his right hand. They were both whisked away by the Portkey.

In mid-trip, Harry pulsed a Stunning spell out of the glove into the man's arm so they both landed in a tumble on a lawn in front of a large house. With one hand, Harry took his cloak off while he picked up the man's wand and put it in his pouch, along with his cloak. Pulling out his wand, he stopped the man's heart just as two people more appeared.

Not even taking to time to look for the Dark Mark, he stunned both of them at once easily since they weren't expecting that kind of reception. A quick check showed the Dark Mark on their arms so he took their wands and stopped their hearts too. Trying to hurry in case more came along, he transfigured these bodies into little statues and stuffed them in his pouch.

Pleased he had three more that he would never have to fight again, he waited another minute more. A quick glance around showed a large manor house and large front garden, along with peacocks strutting around in the distance. What ponce had peacocks in his front garden, Harry asked rhetorically. Wait, a show-off lived here and Death Eaters were coming, so maybe this was Malfoy Manor he thought with a grin. Channeling Oliver Wood, he said to himself, "This is it, the big one, the one we've all been waiting for." He giggle for a few seconds before stopping abruptly.

When no one else showed up in his self-imposed time limit, he considered his next action. He supposed he could try blasting down the front door, or perhaps flying through an upper window at high speed; but deciding he had little to lose with the simple way, he reached down and grasped the lever on the door and pushed down. To his amazement, it turned and the door opened. With a smirk at his good luck, he walked in and closed the door.

As he considered where to go, he saw movement and sent a Stunning spell with his left hand on instinct alone, using the area affect the crystals gave him to his advantage. As the spell hit and he fully recognized what he'd done, he saw a house-elf crumple. Glad he'd only stunned him, he walked over and picked the little elf up and walked over to the nearby closet and put it inside. Another Stunning spell with his wand ensured the elf wouldn't bother him and he closed the closet door.

Putting his wand away as this was going to be a fight with his rules, he slowly walked into the house towards what little sound he could hear. After a few steps though, he stopped and pulled his Invisibility Cloak out to make spying easier.

After walking through a couple of opulent rooms, he came to a doorway that led to a clear and arrogant voice. Sneaking a peak, he saw Voldemort on the side and there were about a dozen or so Death Eaters ringed around the room, or so he guessed from what he could see. That was less than the approximate 20 he had been told about, but perhaps the man was wrong or else Voldemort had killed a few for him as punishment - or so he could hope. Or there could be some along the walls by the door where he couldn't see them he considered.

One he could see right next to the doorway was Peter Pettigrew. He would be the first to go down if Harry could help it.

Taking a couple of breaths, he considered the many plans he'd come up with while standing watch and decided on the "be in the center" one as he stepped back out of sight and pulled his cloak off and put it away to keep it safe. The plan was bold and if done right, they'd help him do his job … assuming he could make it to somewhere near the center of the room. That also meant trusting his armor in the extreme to protect him, but so far it hadn't let him down.

Putting his arms out like a little boy pretending to be an airplane, he ran into the room casting continuous Cutting hexes to act like a large knife being dragged along, making sure he hit Pettigrew in the throat. As he neared the center of the room, he swept his arms forward to hit those in front of him too, or at least try to. Those in front had had the most time to come out of their shock from his intrusion and pull out their wands to bring up a hasty shield. Unfortunately, that also included Voldemort, who'd walked to that side of the room after Harry had taken his survey.

Several, Voldemort included, cast a Killing Curse at him, as Harry had hoped. He jumped backwards and also sent a double Banishing to push him backward faster, squatting as he landed; the spells were directed at Lucius Malfoy to keep him busy since Harry considered him one of the more competent ones here.

As hoped, he saw at least one of the Killing Curses that missed him hit a Death Eater. A Summoning of two Death Eaters near him that had been hit by his early Cutting curses pulled them forward and they were his shields for the next set of curses. Dropping those corpses, the grabbed two more injured that were down but still moving and they absorbed more curses for him.

"Stop!" Voldemort yelled.

Harry ignored him and fired two Blasting hexes at a pair on the other side of the room who hadn't been killed with his first Cutting curse.

"No more Killing Curses!" Voldemort commanded.

Unbelievably to Harry, the Death Eaters paused for a second as they absorbed his command, except for one person near the door who'd apparently ducked the initial onslaught. He turned and tried to run out the door Harry had come in. As Harry pointed a hand at the man, the man put up a shield to prevent his being summoned. Harry lowered his aim and summoned the rug the man was standing on, causing the Death Eater to fall on his back. Harry then summoned him and used him for a shield from the next set of curses and then Banished him at Voldemort to keep him busy for a moment. The man's mask fell off since his magic to keep it on was gone and he saw Snape's face. Serves him right, Harry thought.

A Killing Curse hit him from the left and a little higher than expected. Harry moved so he wasn't a standing target and saw four Death Eaters in masks coming down the stairs with wands pointing at him. Harry did a quick Summoning twice and two Death Eaters were flying towards Voldemort. He also did his best to hit them with Cutting curses as they flew by and he thought he hit each of them.

"No, not Draco!" he heard yelled in a feminine voice.

Harry wasn't sure which one was Narcissa since almost all of them had masks on, but he guessed the one with the longer hair was her. "Sorry Cousin," he mumbled to himself but not really meaning it as he sent another pair of Blasting curses out.

A Blasting curse from Voldemort hit him in the side and threw him across the room. Harry managed to put his arms out for balance and cast dual Bannishings behind him before his knees hit and he slid backwards and hit the wall gently.

Shoving off the wall and kicking in his flying charms, he zoomed across the room. Voldemort cast another Blasting hex to knock him off course. Harry saw he was now going towards whom he believed was Lucius Malfoy. He opened his hand to make it like a knife and punched it into the man's stomach; his arm went in up to his elbow. Turning, he put his other hand on Malfoy's chest and Banished him at whom he believed was Narcissa to keep her busy.

Voldemort started throwing Blasting hexes at him as fast as he could. Harry did his best to either avoid them or use the hits to maneuver to the other Death Eaters and use them as shields to let Voldemort kill his own.

Voldemort then tried a Wind charm, using the forced air to knock Harry down. Instead, Harry did his best to jump and avoid it or else use it to help travel to the other parts of the room where he could hit and otherwise use his brute strength and hard armor against those left. He killed several more that way, including Narcissa who'd sent a Killing Curse at him which had hit him in the leg above his wand holder … and bounced off as needed.

The fight seemed to stop after he killed his cousin, allowing him to look around quickly. He realized it was down to only him and Voldemort standing. The Dark Wizard sported a few cuts on his robes and had some blood on them too, but Harry suspected the blood wasn't his but was from the bodies he'd launched at him.

Reaching into his pouch, he pulled out a small phial with a bit of leather on it to make it easier to hold. It had taken him a number of evenings to find it, but he believed he'd followed the potion recipe for the Erumpet Fluid correctly. He Banished the phial and as hoped, Voldemort sent a spell at it and shattered the phial, causing an explosion to go off and throw Voldemort back to wall hard. Unfortunately, it was too close and also threw Harry back, but he had Cushioning Charms in his armor to help. Sadly, Voldemort got back up faster than Harry liked, but he also had more bleeding cuts now.

"Sonorous," Harry said to turn his voice on. "It's just you and me now."

"Who are you?" Voldemort hissed.

Harry wasn't sure if that was English or Parseltongue, but he understood either way.

Grinning even though Voldemort couldn't see it, he said with a sing-song voice, "That's for me to know and you to find out, you ugly bastard." He launched a double Blasting hex, which he didn't expect to do much, but it covered his next double Summoning of the large picture behind the monster.

Voldemort's shield snapped into place, then he did a double flick, and then some spell that spewed flames out of the man's wand.

This was it, Harry thought, time to find out of Hermione's Flame Freezing runes did their job. As he finished the Summoning but before he could move, a lion (of all animals) surprised him and leaped on him from the side and knocked him down.

The lion couldn't really hurt him, but it took time away from the fight. As the lion tried to pounce again, Harry banished it up and over the railing to the second floor. Rolling over to see to Voldemort, he saw the man getting off the floor too with the large picture beside him and now damaged.

More astonishing, Harry saw a flaming Chimera zoom around the room, igniting everything it touched that was flammable. Apparently, Riddle had lost control of the spell.

Trying again, Harry kicked in his flight charms and this time he tackled Voldemort and rammed him into the wall, cracking bones in his victim's body and probably head. "You've lost for good this time," Harry told him.

Though a little dazed, Voldemort laughed an evil laugh. "I am immortal, you fool! You may kill this body, but I shall return stronger than ever."

The flaming Chimera took that moment to fly over and essentially through them. Voldemort screamed and Harry felt his suit heat quickly until it was like sitting in his aunt's car in the summer sun with all the windows rolled up. His left elbow suddenly felt like it was on fire and he screamed too.

Harry thought he must not have been hurt as bad because he seemed to have recovered first, even if it felt like his left arm was about to kill him. Voldemort looked like he'd been baked, as his skin was blistering and turning a weird color.

Grabbing the man's dropped wand, which was smoking but not burning because it had been under him until he rolled, Harry shoved it in his right glove which showed him just how hot it was. Grimacing but not stopping, he hit Voldemort with a special Transfiguration spell to turn animate into inanimate. Once he was stone, Harry shrank him and put him in his pouch.

Feeling something strike his foot, he looked down and saw a large snake, Nagini he remember. Using both hands, he reached out cast two Cutting hexes. The result was sliced and diced snake.

Summoning a nearby curtain that miraculously wasn't on fire as most everything else made of cloth was, he ducked under the Chimera and summoned all the wands in the room, which he directed to the curtain. Wadding it up in a ball, he got up and did his best to run out of the room, avoiding the Chimera and the now flaming Lion who sounded very pissed off as it thrashed around.

Making to the front door, he remembered the house-elf and grabbed him from the front closet and stumbled out the door. Somehow, he managed to jump and then fly towards the front gate and not drop anything.

Landing outside the manor property, Harry put the elf down and using Tom's wand woke him up. The elf looked at him in fear.

"Shush, I'm not going to hurt you," he told he elf. "You should be free now as I think all the Malfoys are dead. If you would, go to the Ministry and tell them that Malfoy Manor is on fire and won't go out. Then go to Hogwarts and ask the head elf to work there. I know they'll take you in."

The elf nodded hesitantly and fearfully, but Harry didn't care. He was almost having to grit his teeth now to deal with the pain in his arm as the excitement of the fight was starting to wear off.

Not waiting for any other answer or action, Harry Apparated to the entryway at #12. He fell down as he landed, feeling very weak, and yelled in pain.

Kreacher popped in and looked at him in surprise. "Master?"

Knowing his number one priority, Harry reached into his pouch and Summoned the small stone doll to find it faster. He handed it to the elf. "Do you know about the Veil of Death in the Department of Mysteries at the Ministry?" he ground out.

"Yes," Kreacher said quietly as if he was scared of it or what might come next.

"Then I order you to take this and throw it threw the Veil immediately. Try not to be seen, but the most important thing is that it goes through the Veil in the next few minutes. Understand?" Harry didn't know why Voldemort thought he was immortal, but Harry didn't think anyone could come back after going through the Veil of Death.

Kreacher nodded very respectfully.

"Go and immediately come back," Harry said and the elf left with the stone figurine.

Trying to avoid hurting himself more, Harry reached to each section and pressed the releases, with his left arm being last. The metal there was still quite warm, unlike the rest of his suit that was now room temperature. He was sure that meant the temperature control runes had failed there.

He screamed as the parts of his left arm disconnected when he released them. In fact, the two parts around his forearm were stuck to him. Using his wand, he tried a Numbing charm on his arm and that helped a little, but he screamed again as he pulled those final two pieces off. He almost threw up when he saw some of his skin sticking to the metal armor. Another Numbing charm over the whole area helped a little more, but his arm still had him in agony, worse than any Cruciatus, or so it felt like now.

Kreacher popped in and announced, "It is done, Master, and no one saw me."

Harry went limp and lay on the floor and panted for a few seconds. "Very good. Now, for your next command, I want you to find Professor McGonagall; she's probably at Hogwarts. Tell her I've hurt myself and need help immediately. Tell her she can find me on the front porch of #12. When you've done that, come find me on the front porch for your last orders. Go."

"Yes, Master." Kreacher left him again.

Knowing he had to move even if he was afraid to move again, Harry forced himself to roll over and get up to his knees, whimpering from the pain while cradling his injured arm so it would move as little as possible. He panted more to deal with the pain as he managed to stand and eventually stagger to the door.

Looking back and seeing his wand on the floor, he was about to go back and retrieve it, but decided that might not be the wisest thing he could do, despite his pain induced haze. He wasn't sure how he was going come up with a good story to explain this, but having his wand available for testing didn't seem like it would help him.

Opening the door, he stumbled out and closed the door behind him. With his back on the door, he used his legs to lower himself down, crying out quietly again as his bum hit the porch and jostled his arm. He really hoped she didn't take long to get here.

Kreacher popped back to his side. "Professor is coming."

"Thank you, Kreacher. Two more things. Please put all the things I dropped in my room and clean the armor please. Also, Hermione should be arriving at her home soon. Find her as soon as she is there and tell her I'm at Hogwarts."

"Yes, Master," the elf said before leaving.

Harry was back to waiting and hoping McGonagall didn't take too long because he didn't feel very good.

He wasn't sure if he'd passed out or not, time had become very strange after he'd sat. Eventually, he heard, "Potter?" Looking up, he saw a blurry McGonagall bending over him. "What happened?" she asked.

"Training accident," was all he could think of at the moment. "My left arm hurts so bad." Knowing he had help, he stopped trying to stay awake and passed out.

— — —

When Kreacher had found her in the school and told her Harry Potter need help immediately, Minerva McGonagall rushed back to her office. After a quick Floo call to Poppy to alert her, she took the Floo to her home and then Apparated to the Black's house, landing almost on top of the boy who looked delirious.

"Potter?" she asked in surprise at how he looked, pale and even a little pasty gray, as well as sweaty. She bent down to get a better look. "What happened?"

"Training accident … my left arm hurts so bad," he managed before he passed out.

Checking his left arm, she wished she hadn't looked it was burned so badly. Using her wand, she conjured bandaging and wrapped it around the damaged area and then around his body to immobilize it.

Hoping that was good enough for now, she levitated him up and into her arms before she Apparated back to her home. From there, she used the Floo to go directly to the Hospital wing.

Poppy was waiting for her, wand already out. "What happened to him?"

Minerva laid him on the nearest bed. "He said he had a training accident. Poppy, I've," she paused having difficulty, "I've never seen a burn that bad."

After a few spells, Poppy looked at her. "It's going to be worse because he's almost to the point of magical exhaustion and he's in shock. If he's been training he's been going at it entirely too hard." She vanished the bandages and gasped, "Merciful Merlin, he's got a third degree burn! His temperature is also sky-high. Get his clothes off and start cooling him down."

Poppy ran to the shelf of potions and grabbed several before running back. Minerva had the boy down to his shorts and was starting a gentle spray of water on him.

"Good, wet him down with cool water except for his left arm. Then use cooling charms to help more." Poppy started pouring potions down him, magically helping him swallow.

A few minutes later, she said, "You can stop now and start drying him. I think we have him mostly stabilized. Now, we have to deal with the burn."

"What will happen? I mean, will there be permanent injury?" Minerva asked worriedly.

"I can heal the burn given time, but I'm afraid there will be scarring. I don't think he'll lose any function though," Poppy said slowly as she cleaned the area. "I'm glad he's out, but I've also given him Dreamless Sleep to make sure he stays out."

A flash of light and Fawkes the Phoenix glided down and landed on the headboard of Harry's bed.

"Fawkes, can you help him?" Minerva asked hopefully.

The magical bird jumped down to the mattress and walked over, looking at Harry's arm. The two women stood back and let him be, knowing he'd never hurt Harry. To their relief, Fawkes lowered his head over Harry's arm and started dropping large pearly tears onto the burn. Each tear started that small area healing.

As the bird finished after what seemed like a long time, leaving pink but healthy looking skin behind, the doors opened and Albus Dumbledore strode in. "Ah, sorry I'm late, but it took me a while to find where Fawkes had gone. He squawked about an emergency and flamed out. How is Harry and why is he here?"

"Other than magical and physical exhaustion, he's fine now," Poppy replied, "thanks to Fawkes."

"I see. What did Fawkes help with?" Dumbledore asked.

"Mr Potter had a burn. I was concerned about scarring, but that won't happen now," Poppy reported with relief.

"Hmm." Albus walked forward and looked at Harry's arm. "Was it cursed? Or burned with cursed fire?"

"Not that I can tell," Poppy told him. "It healed like a normal burn…"

"Why do you ask?" Minerva asked him.

"Because I was told just before I came here that an elf came to the Ministry and said that Malfoy Manor was on fire. When Aurors checked, they found uncontrolled Fiendfyre."

Poppy gasped but Minerva asked, "And you think Mr Potter did that? Shame on you, Albus. Potter would never cast something like that."

"I didn't say he had," Albus defended himself. "However, Harry has gone off on his own this summer, so if he was there for some reason none of us knows, he might have been burned from that."

"Most certainly not," Poppy told him, now recovered from her surprise. "I've seen burns from Fiendfyre and they are obvious and I don't believe even Phoenix tears would heal them without scars; heal them yes, but there still would be scarring."

"I agree with you that was not caused by Fiendfyre, but I do wonder how that happened," Albus went on.

"He said it was a training accident." Minerva gave him a frosty look. "I suspect he was trying to be ready for Voldemort since you told him about the Prophecy."

"Minerva…"

"No, Albus, Poppy should know about it since she might have to do more." McGonagall looked at the nurse. "As the _Daily Prophet_ says, rightfully for once, Mr Potter must defeat You-Know-Who."

"I had hoped they were wrong," Pomfrey said with a wistful look at Harry. "He deserves better."

"He does. He deserves protecting and training as I'd like to see more Potters here in the years to come," Minerva told her.

"At least he'll be protected now," Albus told her. "As for training, I do have a plan for that."

Considering he wouldn't look at her when he said that, Minerva had a feeling that he was stretching the word "plan". She considered that she might need to train Potter also, but she'd show him the more vicious spells.

The doors to the hospital wing flew open revealing a wild-eyed witch.

— — —

Hermione was straining to look ahead as they neared home. Her mother saw the action and smiled. "Relax, dear, I'm sure he'll be waiting on you; perhaps even on the doorstep."

"No, not on the front doorstep," Hermione said confidently. "He'll either be in the back garden or in the house. He won't want to attract attention."

"I'm sure he'll be fine," her father tried to reassure her. "You haven't seen anything about him in the newspapers and you've said he's famous enough that any news about him would be printed."

"It would," she agreed. Hermione wasn't sure if she wanted him to be in the house or not. While she had gone to the restroom at the airport, they'd been delayed enough while getting their bags and so forth that she really had to go again - badly. So if he was inside, she hoped he understood when she kissed him and then ran for the bathroom.

In addition to the "normal issues" from being away that she was thinking about, there was also the "fire prophecy" as she called it running through her mind. She very much hoped she wasn't too late to do something for that, whatever she had to do.

When they pulled up, her mother handed over her keys as soon as the car was in park. Hermione jumped out and ran for the house with her shoulder bag and the keys. Inside she called out, "Harry?!" With no answer, she ran to the small bathroom downstairs to relieve herself before she searched the back garden.

She had barely sat down and started going when Kreacher popped in. She screamed in surprise before she lowered her body onto her lap to try to hide her privates.

To her dismay, the door opened suddenly and hit the elf that was standing right behind it hard enough he went flying into Hermione, almost knocking her off the toilet.

"Dad! Close the door!"

"But you just screamed and what is that?!" Her father stared at the little creature that was trying to stand but was a little wobbly.

"It's a house-elf and I know him. Please close the door. I was only surprised by his arrival. And throw me that towel, please?" She held out her hand.

Her dad didn't look like he believed her, but he did toss the hand towel to her. "I'll be standing outside the door if you need help." He closed it gently.

Hermione slide the towel between her body and legs to try to preserve her modesty before she looked at the elf who was scowling at her and the door, or probably her father on the other side of the door. "What do you need?"

"Master said to tell you as soon as you arrived that he is at Hogwarts."

Hermione blinked at that. "But why would he be there instead of here?" When he didn't answer, she instantly assumed the worst. "He's injured, isn't he?"

Kreacher just grinned and popped away without answering.

Hermione had to stifle her reaction as she almost let out some very unlady-like language. Instead, she finished relieving herself. With her jeans pulled up, she flushed and washed her hands.

When the water in the sink started, her dad opened the door a crack. "Are you all right and is it gone?"

"Yes to both, but I don't think Harry is all right. The elf said Harry is at Hogwarts and the only reason I can think of for him to go there is because he's been injured. I have to go check."

"Honey, we just got home and it's almost dark."

"I know, Dad, but I have to find out how bad it is. I'll be back as soon as I can. Tell Mum if you would." She walked around her dad to her shoulder bag and pulled out her wand.

"Tell me what?" her mother asked. "Everything here looks like we left it."

"Harry's at Hogwarts and I think it's because he's hurt. I have to go check and I'll be back as soon as I can." She hugged her mother, who hugged her as well.

"I understand, dear. Do be careful," her mother told her.

"Thanks, Mum." Hermione Apparated away.

She landed in the Shrieking Shack and hurried through the tunnel. Hermione figured this would be the easiest way in since she expected the front gate to be locked. At the Whomping Willow, she found the special knot that calmed the tree temporarily and pressed it before running for the front door.

She found it locked and growled. Thinking for a moment, she called out, "Kreacher!" That produced nothing. Trying again, she called out, "Dobby!" To her relief, the elf popped in.

"Miz Grangy, are you here to see the great Harry Potter?"

"Yes! Do you know what happened to him?" She was on pins and needles with worry.

"He was hurt but now he's better."

"Can you please let me in?" she begged.

"Of course!" Dobby snapped his fingers and the front doors opened.

"Thanks Dobby!" she told him as she started running again.

Hermione was almost out of breath as she came to the doors to the hospital wing, but she didn't let that stop her from bursting through them. Seeing Harry in the first bed, she ran for him, ignoring the three adults initially.

"Harry?" she knelt down beside him, relieved that he didn't appear to be bandaged, at least the parts that weren't under the sheet didn't have a bandage. She looked up at the nurse. "What happened to him?" She supposed she shouldn't have been surprised that Pomfrey and McGonagall didn't look surprised to see her there, but Dumbledore did.

"Mr Potter is generally fine now, or he will be with some rest," Pomfrey told her. "When he was brought in, he had a severe burn to his left arm, but our most magical resident fixed that. All that's left now is magical exhaustion, which sleep will fix. I predict he'll be able to join you at the Welcoming Feast Sunday evening on the first."

"That's good to hear," Hermione responded as she looked back at her boyfriend and the pink skin on his arm. The phrase "One for burning" came to mind and it chilled her. Fawkes trilled at her, causing her to look up just in time to see him flame away. Her mouth fell open as she considered Phoenix fire and tears could point to "Two for healing".

"Yes, Fawkes is quite a sight, isn't he?" Dumbledore asked absently. "Ms Granger, how did you know to come here?"

"Kreacher told me," she answered, not seeing any harm in that.

"I see," Dumbledore said softly.

"How did Harry get here?" Hermione asked hurriedly, trying to avoid Dumbledore for the moment.

"Kreacher came to tell me that Harry needed help and that I could find him on the front porch of his house," McGonagall told her. "He was barely conscious and all he told me was 'training accident'."

Hermione nodded, "That makes sense, I suppose."

Dumbledore continued. "So you knew Harry was staying at his godfather's house?"

Hermione could see the trap he was trying to lay. "How could I know? He was at the Weasleys when we left on our trip; but if he wanted to leave the Weasleys then Sirius's house is the logical place for him to go considering he now owns it."

"How did you know he owns it? That still hasn't been fully established," Dumbledore told her.

"Perhaps not for you, but Harry told me that he knew Sirius had left it to him. Why does this even matter?" she asked, trying to get him to admit to something or stop the questioning.

"Because Harry left the safety of the Weasleys and we've been unable to make sure he was safe this summer," Dumbledore said as if it should have been obvious.

"I'm sure he had his reasons," Hermione replied. "Madam Pomfrey, do you mind if I stay here for a little while with Harry?"

"No, Ms Granger, make yourself at home … as usual. While I don't believe you could wake him up, please don't try," the nurse instructed before she left for her office with a smile.

Hermione walked around to the other side of the bed and pulled a chair over. This way she could hold the hand on his uninjured arm. She couldn't fail to notice that the Headmaster was looking at her with a little bit of disappointment, but she ignored him.

"Ms Granger?" Hermione looked to her head of house. "If you'd like to come back for a few hours tomorrow afternoon, you should try calling Madam Pomfrey or myself via the Floo and we'll let you in. Please don't stay too late. Good evening."

"Thank you, Professor!" Hermione was thrilled that her head of house seemed to understand.

As the woman left, the Headmaster cleared his throat. "Ms Granger, now that it's just us, is there anything else you'd like to share with me concerning Harry, anything at all?"

"No, Professor, I can't think of anything," she replied, prepared to deny everything she could about any of their summer secrets. She still mostly trusted in him, but she was starting to understand Harry's more extreme view a little better.

A ghostly shape flew into the room and ran into Dumbledore. He processed that for a moment before he said, "I must attend to another matter. As Professor McGonagall said, please don't stay too late. I'm sure Madam Pomfrey will let you use her Floo to return home."

Hermione was glad she was finally alone and could let her fears out in peace. She didn't cry, but it was a close thing. What helped was that Harry's injury wasn't too bad.

As she got a grip on her emotions and watched her boyfriend sleep, the prophecy came back to her. One fire for burning was obvious now. A second fire by Fawkes leading to healing was almost certainly the next part. The third fire for saving to prevent destruction of everyone mystified her though.

— — —

Albus Dumbledore was a little frustrated at the moment. Teenagers just didn't seem to even try to look at the bigger picture.

Returning to his office, he opened the Floo and a tired looking Kingsley Shacklebolt came through and dropped into a chair wearily.

"Kingsley, what do you have for me?"

"I can give you the initial findings. There might be more later, but it's hard to say at the moment." The Auror looked down for a moment to gather his thoughts.

"Apparently, a house-elf from Malfoy Manor came to the Ministry and through an elf that worked there, we found out there was a large fire that appeared to be alive at said manor house. I and another went to investigate and we found most of the manor engulfed in flames, so I sent my partner back to get all the help that could be brought.

"After we broke down the gates to get in, we found Fiendfyre like I told you about earlier."

Albus nodded. "Containing it is about the best you can do, so I didn't see the need to come and let others know you were reporting to me. Please continue."

Kingsley said, "With enough of us, we were able to smother it a little to speed it going out, but most of the house was destroyed by the time we could safely enter. We found a few unusual things though, which I thought you'd want to know about."

Albus smiled slightly, glad he had groomed this relationship to learn details sooner. "Go on."

"First, it's not a surprise that we found some bodies that we haven't been able to identify yet, but we found more than expected. It was as if there had been a party. We believe there was around 20, give or take.

"Second, while we haven't be able to identify some, we have been able to identify close to half, including all three Malfoys," Kingsley reported.

"The whole family, dead?" Another magical line lost, Albus thought sadly.

"I'm afraid so. We also found, we think, three of his classmates, so expect to have four less students this coming year. We've identified two as the Crabbe and Goyle heirs, but not the fourth boy. Then again, we've identified Theodore Nott Sr, so there's a good chance the last young man is his son. We also found Peter Pettigrew."

This was changing Albus's world; he wasn't so positive about this White Knight, or that's who he assumed had done this since the mystery figure had shown no remorse about killing Death Eaters. "Did you find any clues about who might have done this?"

"No," Kingsley admitted. "If there was any evidence for that it was burned. We did find two dead animals, or so I think. One was large, like a cow or maybe a lion. It was burned very badly. The other was very slender so I'd think a large snake, but it was cut up like a butcher had gotten ahold of it."

That was positive. "Might I be able to investigate that? I'd very much like to know if it was his snake familiar."

Kingsley considered that. "I'll see what I can do. It was really very strange what was preserved and what wasn't.

"Oh, while we haven't found a body we can positively identify as such, we did find a Death Eater mask with the name 'Snape' on it, so unless you can find him at his home or his quarters here, I'll have to assume one of the charred and unrecognizable bodies is his."

Albus leaned back in his seat and put his good hand over his face, using the moment to gather himself. "Was there any indication that Voldemort was there?"

"He could be one of the charred bodies, but it's unknown at this time," Kingsley told him. "Besides Narcissa Malfoy, there was one other woman there, which for now we're assuming was the Carrow woman, meaning her brother is probably there too.

"I'm sorry, that's all we know so far. In fact, we might never figure out who some of the bodies belong to."

"Thank you, Kingsley. I very much appreciate the report. Have a restful evening." Albus watched the man go as he considered the situation. So much blood had been spilt tonight and for what end? With magical families disappearing, their world was shrinking and there weren't enough Muggle-born coming in and staying to keep the magical families strong.

— — —

Minister for Magic Amelia Bones listened to an almost identical report from the Head Auror. She was rather pleased with the situation. A number of Death Eaters were now dead, or so it seemed. While they couldn't tell if the Dark Lord was among the bodies or not, the situation was much improved as the Dark Lord's support base was badly eroded. Even if said Dark Wizard was still alive, the Ministry had time to get ready for a war.

She had no idea if the White Knight, as he called himself, was responsible for this or not. Amelia wished she could reward him for his help despite he was legally on the wrong side of the law. If he were ever caught, she would probably try to give him a quiet pardon in exchange for him leaving the country. He had saved a lot of lives by doing what the Ministry really couldn't because of politics.

— — —

Hermione walked into her house a little after ten; her parents were still up to greet her.

"How is he?" her mother asked as she rose to greet the girl, pulling her into a hug.

Hermione reveled in the contact, still somewhat distraught she wasn't able to neither hug her boyfriend nor talk to him like she wanted. "Madam Pomfrey thinks he'll be as good as new by the time school starts. He received a bad burn somehow, but he's been healed. Now he just has to get stronger and wake up since he was also suffering magical exhaustion … which is probably my fault."

"I'm glad he'll be all right," her mother told her, sounding relieved too, "but why do you think the other is your fault?"

"Because I think it came from using his suit so much," the girl replied. "I didn't consider that it might take more of his magic to power the crystals than a wand would take."

"But he'll be all right and it will all work out," her father told her, "that's what's important."

"I know, but it was a shock to come back and find him injured," she told her parents. "I'm going to bed now. I'll go visit him for a few hours tomorrow. Good-night."

* * *

(A/N: In case it wasn't obvious, Harry wasn't burned by the Fiendfyre directly, but his damaged elbow joint let in enough heat to burn him indirectly very badly. So there is no proof he was at Malfoy Manor, just suspicion.)


	10. Chapter 10

(A/N: Here's another long one and it wraps up the story. Also, I'd wanted to get this to you sooner, but I was delayed because I became sick enough that I had to spend a couple of days in the hospital - fortunately, I got better. Enjoy…)

* * *

 **Chapter 10**

When Hermione awoke the next morning, she Apparated to Diagon Alley and picked up a newspaper since she'd stopped it while she was on her holiday trip. She'd restart her subscription when she was back at school soon.

When she looked at the headline and then read the first few paragraphs of the lead story, she grinned and hurried home.

Hermione appeared in the middle of the kitchen, startling her mother, and shouted, "I think he really did it!"

"Goodness, dear, what _**are**_ you on about?" her mother asked her.

"I think Harry accomplished his mission while we were gone, or if not then he's really close," the girl gushed.

Her mother walked over and put her hands gently on her daughter's shoulders. "Dear, if I understood you and Harry correctly, the mission was going to end up killing a number of people. Yes," she said quickly to stop her daughter, "I remember you each said they were destroying your world and needed to go, but this is still very serious."

"You're right that there is part of this that is not so good and I know Harry is sad he had to do it, but this may mean all the weird and strange things and attacks are over and we can have a normal life. He's done what no one else has been able to do. The price is horrible, but the fact that he could do it is amazing," she told her mum.

"I still don't fully know what to think about this, but I'm glad you're both all right. I do hope you can put this 'cleaning up' behind you." Emma returned to fixing breakfast.

"I sincerely hope so too, Mum."

— — —

After lunch, Hermione again traveled to Diagon Alley and used the Floo to travel to Hogwarts and Professor McGonagall's office specifically.

"Miss Granger, I assure you that Mr Potter is still sleeping as of an hour ago when I checked, so would you mind taking a seat for a few minutes?"

Hermione nodded, wondering what her professor wanted, but thought it probably wouldn't be too bad.

"Miss Granger," McGonagall paused. "May I use Hermione for this conversation?"

"Yes, Professor."

"Hermione, I assure you that what is said here shall remain between us." McGonagall paused and took a deep breath. "I've always been aware that you are a very bright young witch with a good heart who is above average in magical power. I'm also aware that Harry is a young wizard of good heart with more power than any other student here, and is above most teachers as well. Together you make a good team.

"Despite that, when you came to me at the end of the last term, I thought you were being a mite disrespectful to the Headmaster, but I let it go because I could tell your heart was in the right place … and so I helped you.

"I obviously don't know all the details, nor do I think I want to know, but I can read between the lines and guess a few things based on what was in the newspaper this morning plus a few things I've heard from the Headmaster.

"I suppose what I'm taking a long time to say is that I wish to apologize for doubting you and Harry and I wanted you to know that I'm proud of you both for doing the difficult but right thing. If you need any help at all, please come see me and I shall do my best for you."

Hermione was in a bit of awe in hearing her favorite professor tell her that. She nodded as she swallowed then cleared her throat to find her voice. "Thank you, Professor, that means a lot to me and I know it will to Harry as well. We will always do our best to be worthy of your trust."

McGonagall smiled ever so slightly. "I would expect nothing less because that's who you are. I'll let you go see Harry. Don't worry, Madam Pomfrey assured me he really shall be as good as new by tomorrow evening."

"Again, thank you for everything, Professor." Hermione stood, knowing the time was over. "I'm sure Harry will tell you the same thing."

"Because you'll remind him?" the older woman quipped with a tiny quirk.

Hermione blushed slightly. "Only if I need to. I'm trying to work on doing less of that."

"I have no doubt you'll be successful. As I said, you and Harry make a good team."

Hermione left feeling better about it all and she hoped they would be successful."

She spent the afternoon holding Harry's hand and looking at him, while turning her prophecy over in her mind. She still had no better answer and that annoyed her. Perhaps she'd tell Harry if she couldn't figure it out soon, and if he had no idea after some time, they could go to Professor McGonagall - maybe.

~~~IronWizard~~~

Hermione settled in the car as her parents took her to the train station for her to return to Hogwarts for her sixth year. It was Sunday morning and traffic was light, so her father was in a good mood, although she couldn't quite say the same. He turned on the radio to one of the radio stations he and her mother liked which featured a song by the Beatles and that she ignored. She sat in the back seat and brooded about not having Harry here, or even fully knowing he was all right despite what she'd been assured. She wanted to hold him and hear him say he was all right.

Eventually, a new song with a male voice broke through her thoughts, as she'd been trying to listen for anything about fire, flames, burning, or whatever else sounded similar.

… _  
Girl, girl, girl  
You gonna set me on fire  
My brain is flaming  
I don't know which way to go_

Your kisses lift me higher  
Like the sweet song of a choir  
You light my morning sky  
With burning love

Burning, burning, burning  
And nothing can cool me  
I just might turn into smoke  
But I feel fine

You light my morning sky  
With burning love  
With burning love  
Ah, ah, burning love  
I'm just a hunk, a hunk of burning love  
…

Was that a sign? Would a Greek Seer even know of or use a Muggle song? Did that fit the prophecy? Ugh! She hated the impreciseness of Divination with a passion, even a burning passion to borrow the phrase. Still, was that a reference to the third fire of the prophecy? If it was, how did it relate to the fourth fire? Even thinking about it the whole time until they arrived at King's Cross station didn't give her any more insight.

Hermione told her parents good-bye and gave them each a hug.

"Tell, Harry hello from us and that we expect him to stay with us for Christmas," her mother told her, and her dad agreed.

"I'll tell him," she promised and she walked through the portal and headed for the train.

Hoping he'd somehow come even though she knew he wouldn't, she took a cabin in the back of the train, where Harry normally sat, and waited.

Neville and Luna came one right after the other. After their greeting, Neville asked, "Harry hasn't made it yet?"

"No," Hermione said with a sigh. "I'm told he probably won't make it this morning and he'll join us at school."

"All right," Neville said slowly as he thought that through. "Something unusual happen to him?"

"Yes, he had a little accident and Madam Pomfrey is taking care of him," she explained, hoping this line of questioning stopped, and it did. Her dejected tone probably helped with that.

Ron and Ginny arrived a few minutes later and a little early for them. Ron asked the same question, "Where's Harry? He left us with only a note. And do you know why the prat hasn't written in the last month? My owl couldn't find him either."

"I've been out of the country," Hermione said, "but I was told he had a little accident and he'll be meeting us at school."

"What happened?" Ginny asked with worry.

"A training accident I was told as well as magical exhaustion." Hermione didn't think that gave anything away.

"How do you know?" Ron asked with suspicion. "He left us and hasn't sent any messages since. Mum is really upset with him." Ginny nodded to show he was telling the truth.

"I don't know why you weren't told," she said while knowing Harry could have told them too but she could easily guess she was the only one told because she was his girlfriend, "Kreacher told me when I returned." She shrugged. "It's no big deal," she said, trying to defuse the situation. Ginny nodded and sat back, but Ron still looked upset.

The train jerked to start the trip started a few minutes later and the two Prefects left for their meeting. When it was over, Hermione did her best to hurry back to join the others, not really wanting to be alone with Ron. He kept looking at her in a way that made her uncomfortable.

Just as she reached their cabin door, Ron yelled from half-way down the car. "Hermione, will you wait up? I've been wanting to talk to you."

Hermione paused but opened the door, which caught the attention of those inside.

"Can we talk out here? Alone?" Ron asked as he caught up.

"Whatever you want to say can be said in front of the others," she told him, afraid of what he might do based on his expression.

"Please, Hermione?" Ron looked pained to have to say that, but he had.

Against her better judgment, she closed the cabin door. "All right, what did you want to talk about?"

Ron saw the others watching through the cabin windows and he looked unhappy, but she had done what he'd asked. "I, uh, well, willyougooutwithme?" he asked in a slurred hurry.

Hermione had been afraid of that when he said he wanted to talk alone. Hoping she could end this now, she said, "Thank you for asking, but I'm afraid the answer is not at this time." Trying to ensure he didn't have a chance to continue it, she jerked the door open and hurried in, sitting next to Luna (and Neville) so Ron would have to take the open seat on the other bench next to his sister.

A red-faced Ron yanked the door open and stormed in before slamming the door closed behind him. "Why not?"

Great, he's angry, she thought sarcastically. She also considered that a little bit of the reason was her fault with her answer, but she'd hoped - wrongly - that he'd leave it alone. Well, there was nothing else to do but the full truth. Harry owed her for this she thought.

"Ron, I can't date you because I already have a boyfriend." There, she'd said it.

He looked gob-smacked. "Who? Viktor?" he finally got out in a choked tone as he dropped almost bonelessly into his seat.

The other three were looking at her, Neville and Luna in surprise while Ginny was smirking. "Harry and I started dating at the beginning of the summer."

Ron blinked at her for a three-count before he yelled, "What?! But how? We weren't supposed to be writing him."

"We never wrote," Hermione told him before she continued with smugness. "Muggles have several perfectly good ways of communicating that don't involve owls. I'm sorry, Ron, but I'm not available to date you - maybe later." Probably never, she thought. After being with Harry for the summer, compared to Harry, Ron was never going to be good enough for her unless he changed drastically.

While Ron gaped at her, Ginny smiled and said, "Congratulations and good for both of you."

"Yeah, congrats," Neville said, "Harry's lucky."

Luna congratulated her too.

"Thank you," Hermione said, blushing a little.

Ron suddenly got up and left the cabin.

"Maybe he'll get it out of his system before we get to school," Ginny said hopefully. "Now," she grinned mischievously, "how did you two get together and what was the summer like for you?"

Hermione almost laughed at the thought of her gossiping like this. "We had a telephone call to start and then I went over to visit him. That started things. He'd come over sometimes and my parents would take him home."

Ginny frowned. "I thought Harry wasn't supposed to leave his aunt's home?"

"Harry decided to do what he wanted," Hermione answered simply. "He said that he wasn't in school so he didn't have to do what the Headmaster told him. I certainly enjoyed our time together."

Ginny giggled while Luna and Neville smiled. They continued talking while Hermione kept their project secret.

Ron never did return during the trip.

— — —

Harry woke slowly and took in his surroundings. Even without his glasses he knew where he was since he'd been here so much. As the memory of what he'd been doing last returned, it all made sense - especially since he'd been trying to get here. Grabbing his glasses, he put them on and sat up.

Madam Pomfrey came striding in with wand in hand at that very moment, probably because of some magic to tell her when he woke, or so he figured.

"Mr Potter, how are you feeling?" she asked as she did a diagnostic spell on him.

"Pretty good, actually." He stretched and found that was still true.

"How's your left arm?"

He now remembered what it had looked like just before he came in. He wasn't sure he wanted to, but he slowly looked down and was surprised that his arm looked perfectly fine. "Wow, you're amazing!"

Pomfrey chuckled for a moment. "I wished I could take credit for that, but Fawkes cried on your arm and healed it."

"Again?" Harry touched it and it felt normal. "I'll have to do something nice for him."

As if listening for his name, Fawkes flamed in and trilled as he landed next to Harry. "Hey, thank you for fixing my arm again. You're amazing." He gently stroked the soft feathers.

Fawkes trilled happily and nodded his head.

Harry continued to pet the bird as he looked up at the nurse. "So, can I get dressed and go?"

"You may. There are your clothes on the next bed; I replaced the T-shirt. However, someone is going to want to talk to you before you go. I suspect he's already on his way," she told him with mirth before she walked back to her office.

Harry groaned, but realized he probably couldn't get out of the upcoming conversation. "I'll get you something for helping me; I just wished I knew what," he told the magical bird.

Fawkes trilled before he rose, took to the air and then flamed out.

"That was unusual," Harry said as he got up and grabbed his clothes before heading to the bathroom.

After he'd gone to the bathroom and changed, he came out to find Dumbledore sitting in a chair and waiting for him. It was as Pomfrey had guessed.

"Professor," Harry said evenly as he walked over to his bed and sat down, grabbing his socks and shoes to put on. He was calmer about the man now, but he planned to be very careful around him.

"Harry, feeling better?"

"Yes, I'm very good, thank you. How are you?" Harry supposed he should be polite since he still had two more years here.

"I'm very good as well. I have a few questions for you, if you don't mind," Dumbledore told him.

"You can ask; I might even answer," Harry told him with a grin as he finished with his socks and started on his shoes.

Dumbledore chuckled. "Why did you leave the Weasleys' house? You were perfectly safe there."

"As I said in my note, I had training arranged and I wanted to do that. I'm sure you understand why," Harry said.

"That is one of the reasons I waited to tell you about the prophecy; I was afraid you'd run off and try to do something rash," Dumbledore told him seriously.

"Other than my little accident, I was and am fine," Harry insisted.

"Yes, your accident. How did you burn yourself?" Dumbledore looked very interested.

Harry remembered the man could do Legilimency and looked down to tie his shoes as he hoped this all worked out. "My teacher and I were working with fire spells and I cast one a little too close to a wall allowing it to come back at me. That was my mistake and I paid for it."

"Your teacher couldn't help you?" Dumbledore asked.

"I chose not to let him as that would have exposed his identity and he wanted privacy." Harry shrugged. "It was unfortunate, but it all worked out. I'm better trained so that when I have to fight Death Eaters and eventually Voldemort, I'm more ready than I was last June."

"About Voldemort," Dumbledore looked at him even more intently. "Did you fight him on Saturday and was there - perhaps - a Fiendfyre spell involved? There was terrible loss of life with that curse."

"Fiendfyre?" Harry snorted. "I've read about it but couldn't cast it to save my life, Professor. As for fighting Voldemort, I was home on Saturday.

"Professor, if the prophecy is true and it's really meant to be, I'll face him and defeat him one day. Until then, I have a life to live."

"I'm sorry, Harry, but the prophecy says that you can't really live as long as he's alive," Dumbledore pointed out.

"Yeah, well, I'm going to try anyway. I plan to take my studies a little more seriously, but I also plan to have some fun. I no longer acknowledge my relatives, but I do have a girlfriend and her parents like me too," Harry told him with a smile. "I think life is looking up."

"If I may, how did you and Miss Granger get together? I had asked her not to write you to keep you safe," Dumbledore told him.

Harry felt his anger rise and did his best to put it away and mostly succeeded. "While she may have obeyed exactly what you asked and didn't write me," Harry said coolly, "fortunately for both of us, she ignored you in general and we used Muggle means to talk and get together. You, Sir, are my Headmaster and not my guardian; therefore, I don't have to obey you during the summer."

Dumbledore looked disappointed with him. "Harry, I'm only trying to keep you safe while Voldemort is after you."

Having noticed the old man's hand earlier, Harry pointed at the blackened hand, "Perhaps you should spend more time trying to keep yourself safe. Is Professor McGonagall in her office?" He wasn't going to ask about the hand as that might have caused Dumbledore to think he was interested in doing something dangerous this year.

"She is, but there is one more thing we must discuss before you go," Dumbledore told him. "We need to schedule some lessons for you. I have some information about Tom Riddle that you need to learn."

Shaking his head, he stood as he said, "I'm sorry, Professor, but I really don't see the need for that right now. If it becomes really important later, we can discuss it. Now, if you have some useful battle magic, that would be great." He really didn't expect Dumbledore to say he had any, that didn't seem to be his style.

"My information about Tom Riddle is far more important than learning spells," Dumbledore tried to impress on him. "You'll need the information before all is said and done."

"If that's so, then I'll let you take care of whatever needs that information this year. If it's really important, I'm sure you'll make time to act on it. If it's vital, you could give up your positions and do only that fulltime. In addition, you make it sound like I'll have to go do something dangerous with the information and I'm afraid I can't do that."

"There is always danger with Voldemort, but why can't you do it?" Dumbledore asked and Harry noted that his suggestion about Dumbledore doing it was ignored.

"Because I'd have to break a promise to Hermione and I can't do that," Harry told him.

"Perhaps she'll understand and it won't be a problem," Dumbledore countered.

"No," Harry said determinedly, "I promised and I think it's best I keep that promise and I don't think you can convince me or her otherwise.

"So we don't continue to argue, I will end it by saying thank you for letting me come here for Madam Pomfrey's services. I'm sure that was safer than me going to St Mungo's."

As Harry started walking out, Fawkes flamed back in, as if he'd been waiting for this moment, and landed on Harry's shoulder. He trilled and held out one claw with a little plastic sign. Harry took it and looked. It had a picture of a bush with little orange and red fruits on it. "You want some of these?"

Fawkes trilled and nodded his head.

"Right, I can do that. I've never heard of a Ha-ban-ero before, but I'll get you some," Harry said as he walked to the double doors of the hospital wing, sure he was mispronouncing whatever plant this was; he'd have to ask Neville about it.

"No!" Dumbledore yelled, "He can't have any of those!"

Harry felt himself rising and then he was gone in a burst of flames. When he was normal again, he was standing in front of McGonagall's office. He laughed. "You were listening to us you crazy bird."

Fawkes trilled differently and it was funny sounding, so Harry guessed it was a laugh.

"I'll get my house-elf to bring you as many of these as you like if you'll keep Dumbledore away from me for the next two hours, OK?" Harry watched the bird nod before it flamed away. He really had to chuckle.

When he knocked on the door, it was opened by a surprised McGonagall. "Potter? I didn't expect you to be up yet."

"I'm feeling rather good right now," he replied. "Can we talk about my classes?"

"Certainly." She waved him in and pointed to a chair. "I have your letters since they couldn't be delivered. Has the Headmaster talked to you yet?"

"Yes, we just had a conversation." Harry frowned. "I was not pleased he told that he told my friends not to write me again. However, I have you to thank for that not being a problem - thank you _again_."

She smiled ever so slightly. "You're welcome. When Miss Granger was here while you were asleep-"

"Hermione came here while I was injured?" he interrupted. He wasn't sure if he should panic or not. He did want her to know why he wasn't there to greet her, but this could be worse.

"Mr Potter, please calm down," she ordered him. "Miss Granger was distressed you were injured, but was also pleased that you'd recover fully. I don't think you'll have any problems with her over this."

"I hope you're correct, Professor." He remembered her commands to avoid injury vividly and didn't want to face her wrath.

She smiled ever so slightly again before she became serious. "For just a moment, I'm going to call you Harry because you deserve it.

"I was quite dubious at Hermione's idea when she first came to me, but I've learned over time that there is little you and she can not do when you really try."

"Ron has helped too," Harry pointed out.

"Some, but I'm well aware that Ronald is a minor contributor. His showing this last June reinforces my view.

"My point, Harry, is that you and Hermione did a very good job. It was difficult in more ways than one, but I am amazed by what you did - doing what needed to be done. As I told her, I will not reveal your secrets from this summer. I also told her that if you need someone to talk to about this or have questions, feel free to come see me. I will help you in any way I'm able."

"Thank you, Professor," he said, touched by what she'd said. "I shall keep that in mind."

"Now, here are your letters." McGonagall placed them in front of him. "Before you pick your classes, I will say that Professor Snape has gone missing and I personally don't expect him to return; so you can take Potions without him if you like."

"I had wondered," Harry said with a grin to maintain the ruse they each were upholding without mentioning it. He looked at his OWL scores and then marked his classes for her. Putting his book list and OWL scores in his pocket, he asked, "Is there anything else before I go get my supplies?"

"Not specifically, although I do think you'll find a surprise at the Feast tonight. I believe the school will be calmer this year," she predicted.

"Oh? I would welcome a calmer year. Thank you again for all your help, Professor," he told her. He guessed the surprise was no more Draco and possibly included some like-minded friends.

"You can use my Floo to travel to Diagon Alley."

He thanked her again and left for the shopping district.

While he did need to be here, he really needed to go to his house first so he Apparated there. He was pleased the entryway was clean. He was also pleased that he found everything like he expected in his bedroom, including his suit standing in the corner and it sparkled it was so clean.

He opened the bundle he'd brought back from the Malfoys and added those wands to the others he'd collected, although a few were charred, He had 47 plus Riddle's. Since Riddle's worked so well for him, he planned to keep that. The rest he put in a box. Searching for the few extra Death Eater figurines, he added them to the box as well. Finally, he penned a note and set it on top. He'd deliver it all soon, but not today.

Grabbing his normal wand and money, he Apparated back to Diagon Alley to do his shopping. It was a little strange without other students around shopping for supplies too, but Harry appreciated it as it allowed him to go faster.

Just because he could, he stopped in to see Fred and George.

"Harry!" one of them called out, causing the few shoppers to look at him in surprise. "Come to the back."

Harry nodded at the pretty brunette who was looking at him in shock from behind the counter.

"George, look who's here."

"He returns!" George said in triumph. "Where have you been? Have you seen the news?"

"I've been training and which news?" Harry asked.

"About the big fire at the Malfoys," Fred answered before he lowered his voice as if to tell a secret. "They think most if not all of the remaining Death Eaters were there."

"And they're all toasted now," George added with a grin. "We're having a sale on jams that are the wrong color right now in honor, but most people don't seem to get it. Still, grape jam that's green and strawberry jam that's purple is always fun."

Harry laughed. "I like the idea. I also like the idea that maybe life will be quieter. Surprise Killing Curses are never fun."

"You can say that again," George told him.

"Surprise Killing Curses are never fun," Fred quipped and received a raspberry sound from his twin and a chuckle from Harry.

Harry really wanted to share his victory with them, but decided that was best kept secret. He trusted them, but there was no need to share and then have Dumbledore pull the memory from them. Dumbledore probably wouldn't do that, but Harry felt it better to protect his friends this way. Hermione and McGonagall knew and they were enough he decided.

— — —

Harry stood against a wall with his shrunken trunk in his pocket as the Hogwarts Express pulled into the Hogsmeade station. He didn't see Hagrid anywhere, but guessed he'd see him later this evening.

As the train slowed down and the last car came into view, he wasn't surprised to see Hermione standing in the doorway and looking for him. It was obvious when she saw him as her face brightened.

He started walking that way and she jumped off the train just before it came to a stop, running to him. Harry grabbed her as they met and he swung her around so they wouldn't fall over. The second he set her feet down she was kissing him for all she was worth and he loved it, kissing her back just as fiercely.

The sound of a few people clapping eventually broke them apart and he looked up to see his friends smiling and clapping - except for one friend who was stomping off angrily.

"Ut-oh," he said softly.

"Don't worry about him," she told him before she smiled brightly again. "I'm so happy to see you again and that you're up and about. I didn't like not being able to do this last time I saw you."

"Sorry about that," he told her honestly. He hugged her tightly so he could whisper in her ear. "I'll tell you all about it later tonight."

Hermione stroked his face and whispered, "Don't think about it now, I don't want you to be upset. Later is soon enough."

Harry noticed that his friends had been hanging back but now came forward when he loosened his grip on Hermione. "Hi!"

The remaining three came over and the girls gave him a hug while Neville slapped his shoulder in a friendly manner. They all said it was good to see him.

"As you can see," Hermione told him as they started to walk to the carriages, "Ron knows about us dating and he's not happy."

"Yeah, well, we anticipated that," he told her. "He'll come around eventually, he always does."

Hermione looked down for a moment. "Harry, you should know that he asked me out on the train. I told him I already had a boyfriend. That's how he learned about us."

"Ouch," Harry said wryly.

"Not as shocking for us," Neville told him. "Congratulations, by the way."

"Thanks!" Harry said happily and smiled at Hermione. "Oh, I heard a rumor you wouldn't have been bothered by Draco. True?"

"Yes, how did you know?" Hermione asked.

"I heard the year would be more pleasant and calmer," he explained. As he thought back, they were probably the four who had come down the stairs, from Draco's room, or so he guessed.

"I look forward to that," Ginny said as the carriage pulled up and they boarded.

They all chatted until they made it to the Welcome Feast. Hermione sat beside him so he put his arm around her back and she snuggled into him. Ron gave him a baleful glare before looking away. Perhaps the year won't be entirely peaceful, Harry thought.

— — —

After the feast and they all started to get up, Ron walked by and threw his Prefect Badge on the table in front of Harry. "You have everything else, you might as well have that too." He stormed off without waiting.

Harry picked up the badge and looked at it and then at Hermione.

"I'd far rather do patrols with you," she told him.

He looked at the badge again and then towards the head table to see McGonagall walking towards him.

"Mr Potter, did Mr Weasley just give you his Prefect Badge?" She didn't look too happy at the moment.

"Err, yes, Professor. He said he thought I should have it." Harry left off the rest purposefully.

McGonagall harrumphed. "Well, would you be willing to take on the responsibility? Considering some of his past actions, maybe it's best he's willing to give the position up."

"I, uh…" He looked at Hermione who gave him a begging look. "I suppose I'll do it." Harry felt Hermione squeeze him around the waist where her arm was.

"Very good," McGonagall looked satisfied. "Now it will be as it always should have been. Please come see me sometime tomorrow so that I can discuss your duties."

"Of course, Professor." He watched his head of house leave and started to leave as well.

In the Gryffindor Tower, Harry told his girlfriend, "I'll be back in a moment." He went upstairs to put his trunk in its place. Ron also glared at him but otherwise left him alone. Neville gave him a sympathetic look.

Back downstairs, Harry pulled Hermione over to a corner, turned the chair away from everyone and expanded it to be the size of a loveseat, and pulled her into it. "If you know a privacy charm, it would be really, really helpful. It's either that or we sneak off to the Room of Requirement."

"I like the idea of a room to ourselves, but I think it'll be better if we stay here," she told him and then did several spells. "There, we should be left alone and as long as we don't shout no one should hear us either. Now, tell me everything."

Harry proceeded to do just that, giving as many details as possible. He told of his victories, the ones he had to let go, and every death he caused … from the beginning to the big fight at the end. His voice was gravelly and soft while tears were leaking down his face at the end.

Hermione held him to her, shielding his face from all others as she worked to not cry at all the emotional pain he'd been through - all the guilt he had suppressed from the death and destruction. She held him and stroked his head until he had it all out of his system. She hurt with him for what he'd had to do and, despite her efforts, tears ran down her face as well.

"You did good, Harry, you did good," she told him slowly and several times before ending with, "Those people will never kill or torture or anything else bad again. It's all over."

He sniffled quietly. "Dumbledore doesn't think so."

"We know Dumbledore makes mistakes, Harry, so let's pretend this is one too. If it's not, we'll deal with it then." She continued to stroke his head and now his back. "If it's not really over, we'll fix the bad arm of your suit and make a second suit for me and I'll join you to put him away for good."

Harry laughed a little, which sounded funny in his current state. "You don't like to fly."

"I won't fly," she told him imperiously, "I'll just jump - with style."

Harry laughed again, feeling a little better as he wiped his face on his sleeve. "I'd like to see that." He paused to work up his courage for this next part. "Hermione, will I get to see, uh, what you promised since I kept my part?"

Hermione laughed nervously but glad he was putting the bad of the summer behind him. "Harry, I'll always keep my promises to you, including that. It won't be tonight though."

"I know." He squeezed her waist a little before loosening his grip so he could look around. "Looks like we might be alone now."

"I think so, why?"

Harry moved his hands to grab her shoulders and pulled her over so she was lying on top of him. He then kissed her hard and let his hands roam all over her back. Her resistance to his move was gone in a flash and she was a very willing participant.

After a while, they stopped kissing and moved a little to get more comfortable. "I know I've told you before, but thank you for everything. The idea of the suit and all the work is obvious, but in some ways, this is more important."

"Why?" she asked as she laid her head on his shoulder and let her fingertips lightly caress his face and neck.

"While I was patrolling, I had a lot of time to think," he started. "I thought of you a lot."

"Really?"

"Yes," he admitted.

"I thought of you a lot too while I was gone," she told him.

"Thinking of you and, well, your love for me, it…" he paused, "I guess you could say it helped to keep me mostly grounded. You helped me survive the guilt of everything I was doing."

"But you had to do those things," she said as she leaned up on one elbow to see his face. "You protected us and saved us."

Harry blew out a breath. "I'm not saying this well. You," he paused again, "the thoughts of you protected me and saved me. Knowing you were safe and were coming back to me was so important."

"How?" She was confused.

"It took me a long time to admit it to myself, but I got used to doing what I was doing. I didn't think about it, I just did it. Without you, I could keep not thinking and only doing … and with that suit, it would be hard to stop me." He dropped to a whisper, almost afraid to say but thought she needed to hear it. "I could kill anyone and get away with it. I needed you to come back and help me put away the suit and take away this part of me and to - love me, for everyone's sake because it would be so easy to keep killing. There are more bad people that need it … all over the world."

Hermione blinked and stared at him, seemingly frozen.

Harry wasn't sure what had happened to her with his confession, but he was starting to get worried. "Hermione?"

She blinked again and then seemed to really look at him for a moment before she threw her top arm around him and hugged him tightly. "I love you so much, Harry. No more suit, no more killing, no more dangerous patrols. You have my love and you have me." She kissed him hard.

Reveling in her attention, he finally said, "You're amazing, you drive all the crazy away."

"I'll love you and save you from all that, I promise," she told him with a fierce determination that surprised him.

"So, do we stay here all night?" he asked mischievously.

She laughed lightly. "We do not, Harry, especially since classes start tomorrow. But if our schedule allows and our homework is done, maybe we can spend the night in the Room of Requirement next weekend," she said in a tempting way.

"Yes," Harry hissed, "homework will be done."

Hermione kissed him again and then rolled off and stood up. She took her spells down before they walked to the stairs. He kissed her one more time before he let her go.

— — —

As Hermione made herself cozy in her bed, she considered the revelation she'd had a few minutes ago. She might be mistaken, but she was almost certain the third fire was her, or rather her "burning love" for Harry, which would save him. It seemed that without her metaphorical burning love that Harry would go Dark and become the fourth fire, according to the prophecy.

It was a little frightening that he was capable of that, but she was happy that she was capable of countering it. She also wondered if his ability to push caring completely aside was because of how he was raised with the Dursleys. Thinking back to the book on abused children that she'd read, she thought this might be true and blamed Dumbledore.

She also considered that with how Harry didn't like or want the prophecy about him, she thought she wouldn't tell him about hers, especially now that she thought she had the answer and it was so easy to do … not to mention satisfying, she thought with a smile in the dark. Well, maybe she would tell him but not until years from now when she was sure there was no problem.

~~~IronWizard~~~

As they finished dinner their first Friday of the term, Harry looked around and saw what he thought of as normal for the school, and that felt very gratifying since he knew he'd helped make this possible. No Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, or Nott had helped. No Snape had helped a lot more.

He was amused that they still had no regular Potions teacher for the NEWT years; Dumbledore was having to teach the sixth and seventh years. Since Harry had decided to take sixth years' Potions after all (because Snape was gone), he could say that Dumbledore was a generally good teacher, despite his dislike of the man as Headmaster.

Of all people, Molly Weasley had been drafted to teach the lower five years temporarily, as she had an Outstanding on her NEWT exam in the subject. However, Harry had written Slughorn a letter and told him it was safe to return. Hedwig had returned this morning with a positive reply, so he knew Potions would be more normal as of Monday.

Defense didn't have a permanent teacher yet either for some reason. Dumbledore had recruited Hestia Jones from the Order of the Phoenix to fill in until he could find someone. Harry thought she wasn't any worse than Quirrell had been, but that was a pretty low standard to him. Based on looks some of his friends had been giving him in class, he thought it was only a matter of time before they asked him to resume something like the DA. He wasn't entirely sure how he felt about that.

As they walked out of the Great Hall hand-in-hand, Harry looked at his girlfriend. "So, you said you needed a little time, will 45 minutes to an hour do?"

"Yes, that will be fine," she told him a little nervously, some of which was attributed to excitement.

Harry felt the same way. "I'll send you a message when I return and another when I'm outside the door so you know to open it," he told her quietly as they walked, each glancing at the other and smiling. They didn't have a Prefect patrol tonight or tomorrow night.

When they reached the bottom of the Grand Staircase, he kissed her swiftly and let go, watching her going up until she was out of sight before he turned to start his final mission as the White Knight.

"Harry," a voice said softly from the side. Turning, he saw Ron standing there and looking at him and his friend looked sad.

"Ron," Harry said evenly. This was the first time they'd talked all week, since the term had started.

Ron continued to stare at Harry for a moment. "I'm right and yet I'm wrong."

Harry blinked at that, not sure what to say so he kept quiet to see what his friend wanted.

"You do get everything. It's taken me all week to figure out I'm jealous of you," Ron admitted, "for being Quidditch captain, for being so popular everyone knows who you are, you have money, and now you have Hermione. Eventually, I also realized that you have a Dark Lord and Death Eaters after you and you lost your parents and your godfather. You do have it all, but there's a lot of bad with the good.

"I also thought that the one thing that you wouldn't want and I could have would be Hermione. She's so smart and caring and pretty when she wants to be, which is most of the time. And this last week I've watched how devoted she is to you … and you to her.

"Listen, I'm a prat about a lot of things, but I won't stand between the two of you, not if she helps to balance the scales for you. Just promise me to take good care of her … at least do that for me."

Harry couldn't help it; he stepped forward and pounded Ron the back a few times before letting go.

"Get off me, you big lug," Ron protested half-heartedly and with a lighter tone than he'd used for his confession.

"Thanks, Ron," Harry told him. "Things have changed, but I'm glad you're back with us. Oh, don't worry, I'll take very good care of her."

Ron gave a forced smile and nodded before he turned and left.

Harry was very pleased Ron had figured that out after only a week, unlike the month or so it took in fourth year. He wondered fleetingly if Ginny had helped that along, but knew it would be rude to ask. He'd have to tell Hermione about this later tonight.

Going to the third floor, he made sure he was alone and opened the passage way out, squeezing through the opening. He walked most of the way through the tunnel before Apparating to the small clearing near the Bones' estate that he'd left from last time. There, he put his Invisibility cloak on before proceeding.

When he reached her gate, he softly called, "Kreacher, come."

The elf appeared with the box as requested earlier. "I'm here, Master."

"Very good. Please put the box on the front porch and knock before returning home. Oh, wait," Harry told him quickly. "Did you get the plants I told you to find?"

"Yes, Kreacher found the habanero plants. They are growing well," the elf told him.

"Very good. When the fruit ripens, be sure to give them to Fawkes in Dumbledore's office, when the old man isn't there," Harry ordered, still not knowing why Dumbledore didn't want the bird to have the hot peppers (or so Neville had informed him when asked), but Harry thought it was a fun joke on the Headmaster and if Fawkes wanted them, he'd do it for the helpful bird. Maybe it gave him flaming farts or something, he thought with a grin.

"Yes, Master." Kreacher popped out and reappeared almost instantly on the front porch of the house. He knocked loudly and popped away, leaving the box behind.

Harry moved a couple of steps closer to hear better when the door opened and a woman he'd never seen before looked around and spied the box. She frowned as she said, "I only see a box with a note on top." She pulled out her wand and cast spells. "There is only found a sticking spell on the note. There's something magical in the box, but it's not active like a charm. Maybe it's an artifact."

She turned as if listening to something or someone before nodding and reached down for the note. She read out loud:

 _Minister Bones,_

This completes my mission. As I told you I would, here are all the wands I collected except for one: Tom Riddle's; I'm keeping it as a trophy. I might suggest you seek Mr Ollivander's help in identifying their owners. That might help you to identify some of the bodies that were burned so badly. I don't think there are any more Death Eaters, but if so, they are yours to chase.

As for Tom Riddle, I threw him through the Veil of Death, so I believe this Dark Wizard is gone for good. I realize you have no evidence of that, only my word. Sorry, but that's the way it needs to be; I don't want that kind of fame.

I have avenged those I love as well as friends killed by that maniac and his followers; my time as the White Knight is over. The next Dark Wizard is yours, but I'd suggest you work on preventing this from happening, not responding when he appears. Ask Dumbledore why Riddle was like this, assuming you can get him to answer honestly. Personally, my guess is the Wizarding World failed him in some way when he was young, but that's only a guess. I've seen others in that situation and it was close that they didn't "go dark". I'd also suggest you find a way to remove the Pureblood bigotry, but reducing it may be all you can do.

Good luck,  
The White Knight  
(or if you prefer: The Dark Blue Knight)

Bones had appeared in the doorway during the reading and was looking around her front garden thoughtfully. When the reading was over, she bent down and opened the box. She gasped as she pulled out one of the figurines. "Three more Death Eaters." Looking back in the box, she touched her finger to the items for a full minute. "Forty-seven wands."

Amelia Bones looked up and scanned the area again. Though she didn't see anything out of the ordinary, she called out, "Thank you!"

Smiling, Harry lowered his voice as much as he could and said, "You're welcome." At Bones' surprised look and the Auror guard raising her wand, Harry Apparated straight to the tunnel to the school.

Lighting his wand, he started walking as he removed his cloak and also pulled out the Marauder's Map. When he reached the statue and saw that it was clear on the other side, he said the magic password and entered. As promised, he sent his first message to Hermione.

He passed a few people on the way, nodding and saying hello as he passed. He also wondered just what Hermione was up to. Knowing her, it could be almost anything.

Checking the Map again as he reached the seventh floor, he saw the area was clear, so he sent his second message. As he reached where the door should have been, the door appeared and opened.

Entering, he saw what looked like the inside of a house. Closing the door, he wasn't surprised or bothered that it disappeared. He started walking around as he looked for his girlfriend. He also noticed the décor and liked it - it was very homey and a place he could easily enjoy living.

Not too surprising to him, the small house had a small library room. Also unsurprisingly, that was where he found her. With all the bookshelves, there was a fireplace with a roaring fire which made it a little warm. Near the fire on a love seat was his girlfriend with a book in hand, smiling at him.

Hermione had her hair pulled back in a ponytail to control it. She was wearing a short T-shirt and shorts, so there was some stomach and a lot of legs showing. He started to wonder if those two items were all she was wearing.

"There are some more comfortable clothes in the bedroom for you," she told him.

"Kiss first?"

"Go change," she told him, giving him a look that said he should follow her orders.

Since she obviously had a plan, he nodded and left since her plans usually worked out better than his plans. He found a pair of shorts and a half T-shirt for himself laid out.

After changing, he returned to her and she patted the seat next to her as she laid the book down. "All done with missions?" she asked as she turned and then kissed him, running her hands over his face and through his hair.

"Yes," he eventually answered when he could, his arms around her and his hands on her bare sides.

She moved over and placed herself in his lap and leaned against him. "Good. And the suit stays where it is until I store it at Christmas?"

"I promise," he told, moving a hand down to her mostly bare leg and caressing it lightly.

"Splendid," she told him before she kissed him again.

"So, what is all of this for?" he asked.

"Oh, some of it is for your reward like I promised." She looked mischievously at him. "Some of it is because I want it and I think you'll like it too." She kissed him languidly. "And some of it is for us to talk about. I plan to be with you for the next 100 years or so and I thought this place would be a good way for us to figure out what we want in a house when we live together. We can build whatever we want."

He grinned at her. "One hundred years? You really do have plans. So, this is what you'd want?"

"Yes I have plans," she told him a little imperiously, before changing into a soft giggle and watching as he lowered his gaze. "You like what my laugh did to my shirt?" she asked him coyly and impishly.

"Well, yes," he admitted with only a very slight blush and only in the back of his mind admitted it might have been due to lust more than embarrassment.

"Don't worry, we'll get to our anatomy lessons soon, but to answer your question, I like a lot about this setup for a house, at least as a first house. It's not big enough for children, but perhaps we could find a way to add on. Or maybe we make something like this for a summer home and stay there when it's just the two of us. It's possible your family has a home somewhere."

Harry caressed her stomach a little, with his hand going higher and higher slowly. "I look forward to figuring that out."

As Hermione arched her back and let out a soft satisfied groan from his caresses, Harry decided he was going to look forward to exploring life and family with Hermione through the years. As for adventures, he didn't need a magical suit, she and her interesting responses were adventurous enough.

~~~IronWizard~~~

(Four months later)

While Harry was at the Grangers' for Christmas, Albus Dumbledore looked at the diadem with the large blue gem in it and cast yet another spell at it. The spell also failed to show anything suspicious. He also didn't feel anything evil from it, only a magical presence.

Leaving the Room of Requirement, he headed for his office as he thought about Tom's remaining Horcruxes.

The diadem seemed to be "clean" now.

In October, he'd found a cave that showed Tom's handiwork and because it was only him, he'd spent nearly an entire day there dismantling the trap. In the end, he didn't even have a Horcrux, only a clue.

After much pleading and cajoling for a week in November, he'd convinced Harry to allow him to search the old Black estate at #12. It wasn't until he stressed that Harry didn't have to do anything and that Hermione could come too did he agree. While the two students drank tea in the library, he searched Regulus's room but eventually found Slytherin's Locket in Kreacher's possession. To his surprise, the Locket was clean of Tom's influence. Not so surprisingly, Harry had ordered Kreacher to only let him examine the Locket and he had to give it back to the house-elf at the end.

Entering his office, he pulled two memories out of his head and put them in his Pensieve. Looking at Harry during his discussion with the lad when he'd been burned and then when he wished the boy Happy Christmas a few days ago, Albus could now see the difference in the boy's scar. It was subtle, but the scar was definitely lighter now.

He looked down at his dead hand and considered that he'd done that for nothing; it really wouldn't matter if he'd ever found the ring or not, but he had and now the curse would eventually kill him prematurely.

Albus put the diadem on the shelf with the other Founder's known possessions. He would alert Minerva to keep a look-out for Hufflepuff's cup, but there seemed to be no need to find it now. The Horcruxes had dissipated recently, or that was the only conclusion he could come to.

He was certain that Harry Potter had been the White Knight, but he had no proof and knew no one would believe him. Miss Granger being with him made it more obvious to him, as she would have been able to have facilitated it. Yet, when he'd expressed this to Minerva, she'd dismissed his idea and suggested he should go get a check-up from Poppy.

With a sigh, he looked around his office staring at everything and nothing. He'd been Headmaster for almost fifty years and what did he really have to show for it other than what should have been two magical protégés, each of whom ended up disliking him and wanted nothing to do with him. In fact, the first had actively tried to kill him while the second did his best to ignore him.

He'd followed Harry's suggestion and given up being Supreme Mugwump for the ICW back in September. Perhaps it was time to retire from being Headmaster at the end of this year. Being only Chief Warlock wasn't too taxing, assuming he lived that long.

— — —

Harry laughed at himself as he tripped over his own feet and fell down while Emma was teaching him the Tango. Emma had a playful smirk as she held out her hand to help him up while another chuckled and the last giggled at him. The Waltz and Fox Trot had been easy compared to this.

He stuck his tongue out at Hermione as she continued to giggle at him. She returned a look that he took as "Do you plan to use that with me?" He became a little embarrassed and looked back at Emma with forced normalcy. "I'm ready and I _am_ going to learn this so I don't embarrass us when I take Hermione dancing."

Hermione's giggles were cut-off as her eyes went wide and she gulped.

Feeling smug at having returned her teasing, he tried to concentrate on the Tango again. For a moment, Emma looked like a red-haired woman in a photo of his and Dan looked like his dad for some reason. The vision left as fast as it'd come, but he still felt the peace of the moment. Life was going well and a bushy-haired girl and her family were the reason. He had a family for real now and no Dark Wizards chasing him.

(the end)

* * *

(A/N: There's my first H/Hr story with her as the only leading lady. I hope you've enjoyed the story. I do have plans for another, we'll see if I get time to write it or not.

I considered writing an Omake for an alternate ending where Hermione comes home before the final battle so it doesn't take place, Draco kills Hermione at school causing Harry to go mostly insane. He'd put the suit back on and take revenge on everyone who his skewed mind thought was responsible. Anyone coming to stop him will be killed too, even the good guys like Dumbledore, because anyone coming after him would be "bad" by definition. By the time it was over and Harry gave up and killed himself, there would be very few Wizards/Witches anywhere in the world. But hey, that sounds pretty depressing, so I shan't write that. :)

Keep the "author alert" on to know about the next posting and you can check my bio for status updates. Until next time - Kevin)


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